RWBY: Reincarnated
by 117Jorn
Summary: No one really knows what happens when your die... well, Jordan figured it out when he passed on, and awoke in the familiar world of RWBY... only now he was Jaune Arc? Now join him as he sets out to change the fate of the world of Remnant, and to change destiny itself to save those he can now call his friends. (Jaune/Pyrrha, Harem?)
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: I dare not lay any claim to RWBY, because it is the property of Rooster Teeth, and it will forever remain the brainchild of the one and only Monty Oum. May he rest in peace, and if there is an afterlife I hope that he enjoys just how much his creation has exploded in the hearts and minds of the internet community.**

 **Special thanks to Patriot-112 as my fellow Co-Writer.**

* * *

 **Time: ?**

 **Location: ?**

* * *

Jordan woke up with a start, breathing heavily before he took a deep breath. ' _Oh fuck… it was just a dream…_ ' he thought as he sighed. ' _Damn that truck came out of nowhere…_ '

He shook his head as he slowly rose up from out of bed, rubbing his eyes ' _It felt so real though..._ ' he thought, ' _It hurt like hell and…._ ' He yawned as he blinked his eyes open… before he froze.

This was _not_ his room. Not at all in the slightest - there were posters of people he never knew on walls, the bed was smaller, he could find _nothing_ of his around him!

"What the...fuck?!" He muttered, before he froze - the hell was wrong with his voice! He didn't sound like himself at all! He practically leaped from his bed, and went to the mirror in his room, and he damn near fainted at what he was looking at. He wasn't even himself! He knew he had brown hair and blue eyes! Since when did he have blonde hair and blue eyes! And… what the hell were with the damned Pajamas he was wearing!

"The hell is this?!" He hissed out, looking at himself, before taking a deep breath. ' _Okay, calm down, calm down…_ ' he thought, ' _You're still dreaming, it's like inception - you were in a dream, having a dream.. How the hell do I wake up then?_ ' He pinched himself, as he winced. "Damn that..." Jordan blinked as he looked around.

He was awake.

"What the _hell_ is happening…?" He muttered, before looking back at the mirror. This wasn't possible, this _couldn't_ be possible…but… something still seemed off. Sure he knew he wasn't _him_ , but… why did his face look so… familiar?

Jordan looked at himself at every conceivable angle, this face, this hair… dammit he _knew_ this face, and the voice was oddly familiar too…

"Who _are_ you…?" He muttered, squinting his eyes into the mirror.

"Jaune!" A voice called out, seemingly from a few rooms away. "Breakfast is almost ready!"

Jordan jumped slightly, he wasn't alone in… here… wait…

...did she just say Jaune?

He looked at himself again, before suddenly it clicked in his head as his eyes widened. "No… fucking… way..." The hair, the eyes, the freaking pajamas…

...he was Jaune Arc from RWBY!

"Holy shit, holy _shit!_ " He muttered, as Jordan… or rather Jaune, was _freaking out_. "How is this possible! I was at home! I was walking and… " he then froze. "The truck really hit me… did… did I _die_? But… but this… "

He sat back down into the bed, holding his head in his hands - his mind processing this new influx of information. How was he Jaune Arc? How was he in RWBY to begin with! While his friend Ronthetruefan would probably go on about saying how everything is 'fictional' in the multiverse, he never thought such a thing could actually _happen_.

Was he… reincarnated or something? He remembered old stories from ancient religions like the Egyptians that promised a 'second life' but this…

Suddenly the door to his room opened "Jaune? Are you up-" He glanced up as he saw a girl standing there at the door, wearing a simple dark green dress. She had long neck-length blonde hair and blue eyes, almost looking like a carbon copy of Jaune himself. "Ah! Your awake sleepy head! What took you?"

Jordan was silent for a solid moment, not sure how to reply to Jade… how the hell did he know her name was Jade? Or the fact he knew she was his younger sister, and… geez his head hurt.

"Jaune?" Jade asked, tilting her head to the side, "You alright? You look like you have a headache… "

"Huh? Oh uhh… its… nothing… " Jordan… or rather Jaune said, shaking his head. "Had a… weird dream is all… "

"Was it… bad?" Jade asked, stepping towards him. "'Bout the Academy?"

Jaune thought about it for a moment… apparently he didn't just have his memories, but he could recall Jaune's own memories. His sisters, his parents, and his school… "...yeah," He admitted, "It's… not easy… "

Jade rose her eyebrow for a moment, before shrugging "Come on, you'll do fine." She assured, patting his back. "Dad gave you the basics, its like he said! Just act with confidence!"

"Confidence… yeah… " Jaune muttered, shaking his head. "Well I… need to get ready, see ya down stairs Jade."

"Got it!" Jade stated, hopping back to her feet. "Hurry it up! Don't wanna miss your Pumpkin Pete's, right?" She giggled as she ran out the door.

Jaune sat there in silence for another minute, before gulping as he stood to his feet. "Just… hope this is a dream..." he muttered, as he headed for the closet. "Well, let's see what he… _I_ have for a wardrobe… "

He opened the closet, and spotted an assortment of clothes, which he picked out what his… well, mind told him too… eventually coming across a certain Hoodie with a chibi bunny on it, and stared at it for a solid minute.

' _...Pat would make a BIG fuss about this,_ ' He thought with a chuckle as he took off his PJ's to get in his new attire. After a minute, he was soon wearing the entire Jaune outfit that any RWBY fan would recognize - the only thing he lacked was the signature armor and Crocea Mors. He stepped towards the door, cranking his neck a bit. "Showtime… I guess." he stated before he headed out of the door.

He walked down the hallway, mildly surprised that Jaune had such a large house, before he finally arrived at the kitchen where seven other girls were already in the middle of Breakfast including Jade, with another woman who looked closer to her fifties standing by the counter. "Here Jaune!" She called out, sliding over a bowl full of cereal towards him - Jordan/Jaune acting fast as he caught it before it could slide off the table.

"Thanks… Mom," He said, trying to sound confident - it was _extremely_ weird to be calling someone who wasn't his mom 'mom'... yet technically she was so… ' _Gah, this is too damn confusing…_ ' He put it to the side as he just sat down and pulled up a spoon, looking at the Pumpkin Pete's cereal. ' _...this had better be as good as Jaune thinks it is…_ ' he thought, as he scooped up some and took a bite. ' _...alright, it passes._ ' He added as he began to devour what was left.

"So Jaune," One of the older sisters spoke up, the second eldest - Azure he recalled. "How you feeling about your first day in the Academy?"

Jaune gulped slightly, both to swallow the cereal in his mouth and out of nervousness. Cycling through his… _Jaune's_ memories, he recalled today would be the day he began training at the nearby combat school - similar to Signal Academy that Ruby would attend… or probably is attending at this very moment. Realizing he is being too quiet, he speaks up "Well uh… just uh… nervous I guess." He stated, still feeling awkward about this. He had Jaune's memories of his family… but they just didn't feel…

"Bah, he'll do fine." The eldest of the sisters, Indigo Arc stated as she looked at her Scroll. "Dad went there, _I_ went there, even he can do it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence… " Jaune muttered, trying to focus more on eating.

"Gee, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," the third eldest, Olivia stated as she devoured some bread. "What's up?"

"Said something about a weird dream, right bro?" Jade asked, suddenly diverting everyone's attention towards him.

' _Oh for fuck's sake..._ ' he thought with a groan. "It… it was nothing… "

"C'mon, Jaune!" Shami, the fifth eldest of the sisters nudged on, "What was it about! ...was it about _girls_?"

"You should know better Jauny!"

"He grows up so fast… "

"Who was it? That girl you met at that festival when you were eight?"

The girls went into a gossiping string, all asking him just what his dream was about - all while Jordan… _Jaune_ groaned. ' _THIS is what Jaune had to deal with before Beacon?_ ' He thought. ' _I fucking PITY him now..._ '

"Come on! What was it!?"

"Alright fine!" Jaune shouted, "I was walking, and I got hit by a truck alright?!"

There was a solid five seconds of silence, as the girls all looked at him oddly, and Jaune froze. ' _Oh shit, did I just mess-_ '

"GAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He then sweat-dropped as the girls all started laughing like a pack of hyenas.

"You-*laugh*-you got hit by a _truck?!_ " Stella, the youngest out of them all giggled out. "Even your _dreams_ need saving!"

Jaune's eyes twitched ' _How the hell did Jaune DEAL with them?!_ ' He thought, growling slightly as he finished the cereal before taking the dishes to the sink - all while the girls continued to laugh at him.

"Don't worry about it, Jaune." His… _mother_ , Isabella Arc said, walking next to him. "They're just trying to help."

"That's helping?" Jaune retorted, pointing back at the girls as they continued to laugh and mock him. "It's kinda doing the _opposite_ of that… "

Isabella laughed slightly "Girls will be girls, trust me - I should know." She stated, "Go on, your father's probably already ready to get going - has the gear all set up by now."

Jaune said nothing, but nodded his thanks as he left the kitchen - leaving behind the laughing hyena girls towards the living room. ' _Well… that could've gone better,_ ' he thought, ' _But could've been worse too I guess…_ '

"Jaune," A male voice spoke up, grabbing his attention as he suddenly realized he was in the living room - the whole room was surrounded with memorabilia from the past, various trophies, pictures old and new, books and more were in the room - with a fireplace at the end, where next to it an older man stood. He looked like a carbon copy of Jaune, save for having a short moustache and wrinkles. "Good to see your up."

He gulped, but nodded "Yeah… Dad." He said, rather awkwardly. It was just like before, he just couldn't adjust to the fact this man was suppose to be his… well, _father_ now…

"Big day, I know." Johnson Arc said with a chuckle, picking up what looked like a sword's sheath. "I know you're feeling nervous, Son… I know I sure as hell was at your age. You're probably expecting some wise words or something… but ultimately, I've told you all you're ever really gonna need to know."

He presented the blade and sheath to Jaune "Everything you do, be it in combat, being with friends… even women, you do it with _confidence_ ," He stated, "Just have confidence in your own abilities, and the rest… is easy. It's what my father told me, and his father told him… and it's gotten us this far, hasn't it?"

Jaune stared at the famous weapon of the soon-to-be leader of JNPR, Crocea Mors. He almost gingerly accepted it as he looked at the Sheath, with a glance from his 'father' who nodded, he pulled the blade out, revealing the sword in all of its glory.

"Here," Johnson strapped on the sheath to his wrist, along with a piece of the armor. "Just twist your wrist like this and… " suddenly the sheath expanded into a full-sized heater shield. " _There_ we go!"

"Whoa..." Jordan/Jaune muttered, looking at the sword and shield he had. Sure it seemed mild compared to the crazy designs like Crescent Rose and such… but there was a certain air of appreciation towards 'the classics'.

"Over a century old… still sharp as ever," Johnson admired, looking at his son wielding his old gear. "Take good care of Crocea, alright Jaune? I hope you'll give that same blade to _your_ kids… speaking of… keep your eyes out for _the one,_ right?"

Jaune blushed slightly "D-dad..." he muttered, somewhat hesitant… yeah, still felt weird.

Johnson just chuckled, patting his back. "Just egging ya, boy." He said, "Go ahead and get the rest on - I'll be waiting in the car!" With that, Johnson turned to leave, exiting the living room leaving Jordan alone in the room with the sword, and his armor sitting on the couch.

' _I'm… going insane..._ ' Jordan stated, as he palmed his face. ' _I shouldn't be here, I'm not Jaune Arc! I'm fucking Jordan Tackett! This isn't fucking right!_ ' He sat there trying to figure out what the hell is going on with him, against all forms of logic reasoning, and no matter how hard he tried to explain out of it… somehow, he was… Jaune Arc.

He glanced at the set of armor on the chair, as if waiting for him to put it on. ' _...what am I doing?_ ' He thought, ' _Of all the people to end up as… I become freaking Jaune? The ass-end joke of the entire RWBY series? He can barely handle himself in a fight! He cheated to get into Beacon!_ ' He was panicking - he knew Jaune in the series had no chance to beat people like Cinder, Roman, Neapolitan, Mercury, Emerald - let alone the _real_ bad guys like Salem and her council of doom.

Jordan sat there for a moment… before suddenly a light bulb went off in his head as he blinked. ' _Wait..._ ' he thought, ' _wait just one minute… Jaune in the_ series _couldn't… but I'm not Jaune! Well… not the_ same _Jaune._ ' He suddenly began to smile. ' _I'm just beginning my Combat School! I have years to prepare, and I know exactly what's gonna happen in RWBY from Volume 1 to 5! I can prevent Beacon's fall, maybe even stop the WF train… I… I could even save Pyrrha and Penny! Prevent Yang from getting her arm axed off!_ '

He then stood up, as he looked at the armor on the chair once more. ' _I… I could change it all,_ ' he thought, walking up to the armor. ' _Stop Cinder, Salem… its crazy but… it could… actually work._ ' Jordan then reached forward, and picked up the chestpiece of the armor, before sliding it on. ' _I'm gonna do_ everything _I can to fix this… fix it all…_ ' he then chuckled slightly as he pieced together the rest of his armor. ' _Jaune Arc… you're about to transform from being a zero… to a hero._ '

With his gear all attached, Jordan… no, _Jaune_ walked out of the living room with Crocea Mors on his side. "Well… show time." He whispered, as he opened the door… and took his first steps into the world of RWBY.

* * *

 **Three Years Later**

* * *

The City of Vale was just as magnificent as the series made it out to be, a metropolis with thousands of people going about their daily lives, running shops and businesses all without worrying about the beasts which lied in wait outside.

" _I can't believe you actually made it!_ " Jaune smiled as he spoke with one of his sisters, Jade as he walked down the streets. " _You actually graduated! I'm so proud of you! We all are!_ "

Jaune chuckled slightly. "It wasn't easy," he admitted. "Trigger really needed some more funding, remind me some time to donate some cash their way."

" _Will do, big brother!_ " Jade said, " _Oh! Gotta go, lunch is here! Good luck at Beacon Jaune!_ "

"Right, bye Jade." Jaune said, as he turned his Scroll off. It had been three years, three years of attending the 'Trigger Academy Combat School'. It was anything _but_ easy, he attended every lesson he could, learned from every teacher he could, plus hours upon hours of pure physical fitness of doing every exercise he could think of to buff himself out. Gone was his old, scrawny figure that any RWBY fan would recognize - now he had a fairly decent build, and had the strength to prove it.

His body wasn't the only thing that had changed - so did his attire in gear. With some help from a blacksmith he was able to upgrade his armor with additional protection, including armored greaves, boots and an armored skirt, all to provide additional protection. It was now a healthy mixture of ceramic plating and metal to defend against both melee strikes and fast-moving projectiles, kinda like kevlar vests only more suited to handle Dust bullets - along with some other… _features_ he's added overtime. However it was mostly out of necessity since he quickly learned why Jaune did not have his Aura unlocked in the series - Trigger Academy was _vastly_ underfunded, students were encouraged to find resources to help them in school _outside_ of class. He didn't have his Aura awakened because he could never find someone who _could_.

This presented Jaune - formerly Jordan - a bit of a problem, but he made due as best as he could. First and foremost was a few alterations to his armament - he still has the family heirloom that was Crocea Mors, but he had also spoken to a crafter and managed to build a few… extra weapons. Back during his previous life, he had seen a _lot_ of fan-made RWBY weapons for OC's, including Scythes with flamethrowers attached, pistols that turned into katana blades, all that stuff. But he was thinking of a more… _unique_ design. Since he already had a sword, he didn't need another bladed weapon - what he needed was range, which he got when he created his first true weapon: "The Commando".

The closest thing he could think of to compare Commando to was the DC-17m ICWS from Star Wars: Republic Commando, at least in the general concept. An all-in-one weapon that could function as multiple different guns. In short, it was the only gun in the RWBY World (that he knew of at least) that transformed from one gun, into another. However he had done his best to make sure it was more… _original_. Namely unlike its fictional counterpart, Commando was all-in-one, meaning he didn't have to swap out parts in the middle of a battle. With a simple flick of a switch, it could transform from the standard assault rifle mode, into the long-range blaster mode. And the 40mm Grenade Launcher was neatly build in the underslung portion, much like modern-day grenade launchers from home. Though he could easily change it out for an underslung shotgun, akin to the 'Masterkey' from back home. And as a reserve weapon, he carried a large revolver-like weapon which was very similar to the one used by General Ironwood… in fact, it was almost identical. Apparently it was a standard-issue Atlesian Revolver.

Of course that wasn't all, as he also possessed a series of throwing knives strapped onto his belt. There wasn't anything truly special about the knives, they were simple metal knives that could be used as any knife would. Plus he figured it would be ideal to have a set of knives on him not just for combat purposes, but also for survival scenarios, setting up traps, etcetera. They may be plain, but they are nonetheless deadly.

His only hope now was that it would all actually make a difference. Jaune looked at the letter he was given, with his ticket to Beacon inside and the note which told him he had been accepted. ' _No turning back now…_ ' he thought, tucking the letter into his pocket as he continued to walk through the streets of Vale, with it getting so dark he knew he had to find the hotel he would be staying at for the next few days till the airship arrived.

He walked down the sidewalk, looking at the city and the people who passes him by, most being human, but he fought his inner fanboy when he would pass a Faunus. It was just so surreal to live in the world of RWBY, even after three years of living here… he was thankful at least that they weren't all a bunch of walking shadows. However as he walked, one building caught his eye, glancing up at the title of it. 'From Dust till Dawn'.

' _...Oh hey! This place!_ ' Jaune smiled looking at the somewhat iconic store from RWBY, not seeing why he _shouldn't_ give the place a looks-see, he went ahead and opened the door and stepped inside. He immediately encountered the Shopkeep, looking just as Rooster Teeth animated him as, only more… real now.

"Welcome to Dust till Dawn!" The old man greeted, "How are you today young man?"

"Pretty good," Jaune said, looking around, "Just stopping in, see what ya got… wouldn't happen to have any gravity dust crystals, would you?"

"Ah, plenty! Have a few in the back," The man said, gesturing to the back. "Plenty in stock, not many people use Gravity nowadays… only that girl in the back gets it now."

Jaune nodded as he stepped towards the back, before he froze for a moment. ' _Did.. did he say..._ ' he thought, as he silently walked towards the back, and peeked from behind one of the aisles. Standing in the back near the magazines and music was a single figure, a silver-eyed girl with blackish-red hair, with a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, completed by a red, hooded cloak, and a red weapon strapped to her back as she looked at an issue of Weapons Magazines, with a set of red headphones on.

Jaune/Jordan's mouth flew open as he stared slack-jawed at the girl, a person every last RWBY cosplayer should know by heart be in animated or IRL form. ' _HOLY SHIT THAT'S RUBY!_ ' He couldn't believe it, even after spending all these years in Remnant, having prepared himself full knowing he would meet her in the future… actually seeing one of his favorite animated characters in real life was almost awe-inspiring. And either way, she looked just as amazing IRL as she does in animated form.

Her head rose up for a moment, and began to turn his direction - and Jordan hastily retreated back behind the aisle before she could spot him. They weren't supposed to meet yet! He's not to meet her or the others until they boarded the airship to Beacon! He had to decide whether or not to go change how the whole RWBY series started, or let it play out as is. He was so busy debating this he didn't notice anyone else coming into the story, before…

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" a familiar voice spoke, followed by the sound of a gun cocking. Jaune's eyes widened further as he retreated back towards the front, as he peaked back. The Shopkeeper had his hands raised as several men in black and red tux suits stood before him with weapons out, lead by a single man with a cane, a white suit, and a black hat.

' _Shit that's Roman!_ ' He thought, before another realization hit him. ' _OH SHIT! I'M IN THE FIRST FUCKING EPISODE OF RWBY!_ '

"P-please! Just take my Lien and leave!"

"Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, calm down," Roman said, raising his hand. "We're not here for your money." He then glanced at one of his henchmen. "Grab the dust."

A henchman opened a case and removed one of several cylinders inside, connecting it to one of the dust dispensers as they pull out as much as they could.

"Crystals. Burn. Uncut." Another one said, putting a case in front of the Storekeeper, who began quickly filling dust crystals inside.

Jaune backed up a bit, staying outside their line of sight. ' _Let it play, or intervene?_ ' He thought as he debated on what to do next. He thought… before groaning. ' _Goddamnit..._ ' he quietly moved to the back, up to where Ruby was as she continued to listen to her music and read the magazine, completely oblivious to what was going on.

He then lightly tapped her shoulder, catching her attention. "Huh?" She asked, pulling her hood down and headphones off.

"Don't look now... " He whispered, "But I think we're about to be robbed."

Ruby rose her eyebrow quizzically, tilting her head to the side. "What do you-"

"Alright kids, put your hands up where I can see 'em!" Both glanced back where the henchman stood, sword at the ready pointed at them.

"...Ohhhhh..." Ruby said in realization, glancing back at Jaune… with a small smirk. He didn't know why though but… he felt like smirking back.

Roman inspected one of the dust crystals before suddenly one of his henchmen he hired from Junior went flying backwards. He rolled his eyes, nodding his head forward as two more henchmen moved to take care of the two vigilantes.

This was followed by both Henchmen being shot right out the window in a blur of motion, as Roman and the remaining men stared as Ruby stood back up, with Crescent Rose extending to her full length, while at the same time Jaune held Crocea Mors in one hand, and his revolver in the other. The two then turned around, Ruby's Scythe out and ready, as Jaune had his handgun aimed and ready.

Roman just looked at the two "O-kaaaay..." he said, before glancing at the other, and currently dumbfounded, henchmen. "Get 'em."

The Henchmen rushed out of the shop, weapons drawn as they charged the two. Ruby simply flipped up onto her weapon, spinning herself around as she kicked the first goon away. She then jumped up, carrying Crescent rose with her as she spun around until the weapon was pointing away from the grunts - before pulling the trigger - the recoil of the gun sending the blunt-side of her scythe into the head of a second gangster sending him flying back - and then slamming him into the ground.

The last henchman pulled up his auto-pistol to bear on her, however Jaune swung his sword and knocked the weapon out of his grasp. The man then trying to punch him, only for the soon-to-be Huntsman to tilt his head to the side, avoiding the hit before Jaune bashed his own head into the Gangster's - dazing him before he delivered the final kick, forcing him onto the ground back at Roman's feet.

The Gangster Thief rolled his eyes "You were worth every cent, truly you were… " he muttered, tossing his cigar onto the ground, stepping his cane onto it. "Well Red, Blondie, I think we can all say its been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd _love_ to stick around… "

He raised his cane, and Jaune's eyes widened slightly as he saw the target sight flip up.

"I believe this is where we part ways," he said, smirking before pulling the trigger.

"Duck!" Jaune shouted, quickly pulled out his shield as he stood between Roman and Ruby as Roman fired his Cane at them - the grenade-like dust round hitting against the shield in a brief explosion - the force sending him skidding backwards, almost running into Ruby who leaped back just in time.

As he lowered the shield, he glanced up and just like in the show, Roman was climbing up the fire escape ladder with the case of Dust he had stolen.

"You okay if we go after him?" Ruby asked Shopkeep, who just nodded. Jaune smirked as he pulled out his revolver - attaching a hook onto it, firing at the roof of the building.

"Clickback!" Jaune shouted, before he suddenly went _flying_ along the line he shot towards the roof of the building just as Ruby fired Crescent Rose to jump up as well.

"Oi! Torchdick!" called out, "Going somewhere?"

"Ugh, as a matter-" Roman began to say, before what Jaune said registered to his head. "-The hell did you just call me?!"

"You heard what I said," Jaune grinned as Ruby landed on the ground, blinking.

"Wait, what did I miss?" She asked, before there was an echoing engine sound, as emerging from an alleyway came a Bullhead VTOL - its lights shining towards them, blinding Ruby for a moment, allowing Torchwick to jump aboard.

"End of the line, brats!" Roman shouted, as he grabbed a red dust crystal, and lobbed it towards them-

BOOM!

-only for Roman to wince as the crystal blew up in mid-air, the force of the blast slamming him to the end of the aircraft.

Ruby blinked, looking at Jaune, as his revolver smoked from the shot "And _that_ is why you need to be careful with Dust, kiddies." He smirked slightly, putting the gun back before pulling out Commando. "Now… let me show you a _real_ man's gun." He flipped a switch, as Commando extended to its full size - a clip of ammo already in the breach, and a grenade loaded as he took aim.

A pull of the lower trigger resulted in a 40mm Grenade being lobbed at the Bullhead - which pulled up, but not before taking a nice big hit to its belly, and knocking Roman around in the cargo bay within. He didn't let it up, as he reached for the second trigger and began firing bursts of rounds at the VTOL.

"Nice!" Ruby shouted, as she aimed Crescent Rose, and began firing at the Bullhead as well.

Roman cursed a mile a minute as the sound of the bullets hitting the aircraft echoed all around him as he made his way to the cockpit, and looked at his current 'employer'.

"Those brats have some serious firepower!" he shouted, as a bullet blasted through the window, and shot the feather off the thief's bowler hat. "SHIT! This is my favorite hat!"

"Take over," said the employer, the voice feminine as she stood up, revealing a red dress with yellow highlights, black shoulder blade length hair, pale skin, and amber eyes, "I'll deal with them,"

The woman then walked into the cargo area as Roman took the control stick in order to keep the Bullhead level.

Jaune was just reloading and preparing to take aim… before spotting _her_. Most of her was still covered in shadows, but looking up, seeing those shoes, the dress and more importantly… _the eyes_. The burning eyes of Cinder Fall.

For a moment Jaune froze, staring at the woman, the woman who caused so much pain and suffering for Jaune… the _real_ Jaune, for Ruby, and for… Pyrrha…

Suddenly he registered time was moving forward, as Cinder began preparing one of her attacks. This snapped him back to reality as he grit his teeth and opened fire, holding down on the trigger. Cinder rose a shield of fire which blocked the barrage of bullets, before firing a fist forward - as a blast of fire shot towards Ruby. She jumped back, avoiding the blast - but suddenly the shrapnel began to glow beneath her feet.

Jaune noticed this quickly "Move!" He shouted, tackling Ruby away - and not a moment too soon as a massive pillar of fire erupted from the ground they stood moments ago.

"Wha!" Ruby shouted in surprise, before regaining her balance. Jaune rolling a bit before he stood on his knee, taking aim as he continued to fire - though as he did, he noticed a series of storm clouds beginning to form over the Bullhead.

' _Took you long enough,_ ' he thought, before the shrapnel from the previous blast suddenly began to glow blue - signaling the arrival of Glynda Goodwitch, stepping forward as ice pelted the Bullhead as she summoned up the debris around her, sending it arching forward. However the Bullhead tilted to the side - the impact bouncing off its sloped armor between its wings - but the 'trail' split apart, shifting around like snakes to engulf the VTOL. However Cinder once more pulsed with Fall Maiden powers, and in a burst of fire burnt the shards of debris into dust.

Ruby, after getting over her initial shock, transformed CR into sniper mode, and began firing at Cinder - but she was easily able to deflect the bullets with her hands, before making a gesture as similar 'glyphs' appeared beneath their feet. Before Jaune could do anything though, Glynda was a step ahead of them as she used her own Semblance to send Ruby and Jaune away from the blast - while she cartwheeled away as five pillars of fire merged from where they were.

Jaune looked up, just in time to watch the hatch of the bullhead close up - as the VTOL began to fly away from them. He grit his teeth, glaring at it as it escaped. ' _Run run as much as you can, bitch..._ ' he thought, ' _I'm gonna hunt you down to the ends of the earth… history isn't being repeated._ '

"...you're a huntress..." Jaune/Jordan blinked as he glanced back towards Ruby, who was already eyeing up Glynda like an idol - the Headmistress simply looking back with a semi-annoyed expression. "Can I get your autograph?!"

Jaune took a deep breath as he put Commando away. "Headmistress Goodwitch," He said, grabbing their attention. "Nice to meet you… granted I wasn't expecting it to be in a fight, but...nice to meet you before heading to Beacon in a few days."

Glynda blinked in surprise, eyeing him for a moment. "Wait… Ah, now I remember." She nodded, "You're one of the first years, yes?"

"Jaune Arc, yes." He nodded, "Thanks for the help with that… _person_..." he glanced back to where the VTOL went off to. "...the hell was with that power she had? I've never seen Dust be used like that… or a Semblance like it..."

Glynda bit her lower lip slightly, but not noticeably "Yes, it was… different." She said, "Anyways… I am going to have to ask you two to accompany me to the police station."

"W-What?!" Ruby cried out, "B-But I-I need to get home! I-Its super late out, my dad'll kill me if I don't get home soon!"

"Well we should've thought about that before we went off chasing after a criminal scumbag, his lackeys and some rogue Huntress or whatever she was," Jaune chuckled, "I'm sure your dad'll be fine-" He quickly caught himself from saying 'Ruby', mentally slapping himself. He never heard her name yet! It would be too weird if he acted as if he knew Ruby now! But he had to keep talking before it got awkward. "-ummm… sorry, I… don't think I got your name…?"

"O-Oh! Um, Hi! I'm Ruby!" Ruby beamed, smiling "Ruby Rose, from Patch! And… you're Jaune… Arc?"

"Yup, nice to meet you Ruby." Jaune returned the smile. "Come on, let's not keep Miss Goodwitch waiting."

"A wise idea," Glynda said, as she began tugging Ruby by the ear. "Come now, children."

"Owowowowowowow!" Ruby groaned as she was dragged off by Glynda. "Whhhhhy?! What did I do?!"

Jaune simply smiled, as he followed Ruby and Glynda back down the building. But as he did, a small, paranoid fear was building up in his mind. One episode in, and he already changed his first interaction with Ruby, and faced off against Cinder and Roman. And on top of that, Glynda showed up _way_ later than she was suppose to.

' _Things are already changing..._ ' he thought with a frown. ' _But is this good change… or bad?_ '

* * *

"I hope that you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, you two!" Glynda grilled the two, with Ruby looking depressed, while Jaune rolled his eyes. "You put yourself and others in great danger. "

Like before, they were in an interrogation room like in the first episode, a single light above them, both at a table while Glynda continued to pace behind them.

"They started it!" Ruby defended.

"What were we supposed to do, _let_ the guy get robbed?" Jaune shrugged, "Sometimes the worst kind of action is no action at all, you know."

Glynda looked at Jaune with a pointed look, which caused him to raise his hands in surrender.

"I'm just saying...," he said, while Glynda sighed as she continued walking around the table.

"If it were up to me, I would send you home," she started, "With a pat on the back...,"

Ruby smiled, while Jaune discretely moved his chair from the table a bit, before Glynda finished.

"...and a slap on the wrist!"

With that, she slapped her riding crop near the little rosette who yelped in fright. The Deputy Headmistress then sighed as she withdrew her riding crop.

"But there is someone who wishes to meet you two," she said, and moved aside as the door opened...

' _All Aboard, hahahahahahaha..._ ' Jordan thought to himself, resisting the urge to smirk as Ozpin - or 'Ozzy' as some of his old online friends called him - walked into the room, with his classical mug of coffee and a plate full of chocolate chip cookies in the other. Just seeing him, and he could already hear 'Crazy Train' in the back of his mind.

"Ruby Rose..." Ozpin mused as he leaned towards her, "...you have silver eyes."

"Uh, um... "

"And Jaune Arc..." He turned to face the second occupant. "Getting into Huntsmanship a bit early, are you not?"

"I see bad guys doing bad things, I stop them." He said, "It's the basic idea behind Huntsmen if I remember correctly… at least when we aren't fighting beasts from the Grim Reaper's petting zoo."

"Hmm..." Ozpin hummed, before gesturing to the screen Glynda held, showing off their fighting off the goons. "So! Miss Rose, where did you learn to do _this_?"

"S-Signal Academy..."

"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" He questioned.

"Well, one teacher in particular." Ruby added sheepishly.

"If he taught you how to do _that,_ " Jaune pointed at Ruby smashing the head of a Goon into the dirt with her scythe, "Then he has to be one hell of a badass."

* * *

Somewhere in a bar, a black haired man raised his head up and smirked. "Damn right I am..." He muttered.

"Qrow, leave - you're drunk."

"So?"

* * *

"Yeah, he really is cool." Ruby grinned.

"I see…" Ozpin mused, before sliding the plate of cookies between them. Ruby tentatively picked one up, eats it in a single bite, and then, not seeing any rebuttal, shovels the rest into her mouth.

* _growl_ *

Ruby paused as she glanced at Jaune, who blushed slightly. "...I haven't had dinner yet..." he muttered. "My stomach has a mind of its own..."

Ruby glanced at the last few cookies, before sheepishly pushing them towards him. "Sorry..." she muttered with a stuffed mouth.

"Its cool," Jaden said as he grabbed a Cookie and ate it.

"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before." Ozpin continued once they stopped. "A dusty, old crow…"

' _Literally,_ ' Jaune thought, fully well aware of Qrow's… _ability_.

"Oh! That's my uncle!" Ruby retorted, with a mouth stuffed full of cookies before she swallowed them down. "Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete _garbage_ before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like— Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!" She began mimicking karate moves before them, accompanied by self-made sound effects.

"Wait, Qrow as in Qrow _Branwen_?" Jaune asked, feigning surprise. "As in Team STRQ?"

"Oh! You heard of their team?" Ruby asked, sounding surprised.

"Hey, they were pretty popular back then," He informed - having dug up info regarding the team during his 'research' period when he wasn't training. "My dad told me a lot about them, and I heard stories about all they did… and your the _niece_ to one of them?"

"Oh, they're all part of my family! Well, sorta," Ruby retorted, smiling a bit. "My dad is Taiyang, the leader - and my mom was Summer Rose! And my step-mom was Raven, whose my sister's mom!"

"Ooooooohhhh!" Jaune retorted, once again acting out the surprise. " _That's_ why your name sounded so familiar! No wonder you kick butt so much, you got like, _legends_ in your family!"

"Yeah! Though, I mostly trained with my Uncle Qrow," Ruby said, "My sister trains more with my dad, since she's the more… _close combat_ type than I am."

Jaune nodded, before blinking in acting confusion. "And your mom and step-mom?" he asked, and he felt like kicking himself for asking that question, as a sad frown forms on her face.

"My birth mom went on a mission and never came back, she's been presumed dead after other huntsmen and huntresses went looking for her, but never found her...," she said sadly, "As for Raven, my sister's mom, she left almost immediately after she was born, and no one has seen her since."

"Oh...sorry, I didn't mean to...," he said, but Ruby shook her head.

"It's okay, I was too little to understand, and I don't let it control my life," she said, "I'll always cherish the few memories I have of her, but I'll keep going forward, for her sake! Its why I'm going to Signal, because I… I wanna become a huntress!"

"You want to slay monsters?" Ozpin chipped in.

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon!" She said, practically jumping in her seat as she started to talk faster and faster. "You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! ( _giggles_ ) I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, **gosh** , you know!"

Glynda and Ozpin studied her for a moment, before turning towards Jaune. "And you, Mr. Arc," he began, "Why do you want to be a huntsman?"

Jaune shrugged slightly "Well… I guess its in my family really," he said, "My great, great grandfather fought in the great war, and my grandfather, and my dad were huntsmen to. I want to do my family proud, keep up with the tradition and well… " he gestured his head towards Ruby. "Like she said, I was always told to help people by my folks. And the best way to do that is… well obviously, being a Huntsman."

Ozpin hummed in thought, before he nodded slightly as he turned back towards Ruby. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon."

Ozpin smiled "Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"Little late for introductions..." Jaune whispered slightly - another pointed look from Glynda shutting him up.

"You want to come to my school?" Ozpin continued to ask Ruby.

"More than anything." Ruby nodded, smiling widely.

Ozpin shared a look with Glynda, who just 'humphs' in disapproval, but concedes to his decision. "Well, okay then."

Ruby blinked. "Wait… what?"

"You'll come to my school."

"...what?"

"I think he's trying to say: you're skipping two years." Jaune said smirking. "Welcome to the big leagues, Ruby."

Ruby's face for the first few seconds was that of shock, before it morphed into a big smile...

* * *

...only to recieve a bone crushing hug from the familiar blonde haired lilac girl that is her older sister Yang.

"OOOOOH! I can't believe my little sister is coming to Beacon with me!" Yang said excitedly as she held her little sister in a death hug, "This is the best day, EVER!"

"Please...stop..." Ruby managed to gasp out painfully, and Yang released her.

"But I'm just so proud of yoooou!" Yang cheered, hopping in place for a moment.

"Really Sis, it was nothing." She groaned slightly, trying to downplay her actions.

"What do you mean?" Yang exclaimed, "It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees!"

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay?" Ruby groaned, "I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"What's with you?" Yang questioned, "Aren't you excited? "

"Of course I'm excited... I just…" Ruby let out a deep sigh. "I got moved ahead _two years_. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

"But you _are_ special, sis." Yang assured her, pulling her into a one-armed hug.

"She'd be right..." a familiar voice said, as Ruby turned around, and immediately recognized Jaune as he walked towards them.

"O-Oh! Hey! Jaune!" Ruby beamed, "Yang, this is the guy I mentioned!"

"Oh, hey there!" Yang smiled, walking up to him. "So, you're Jaune?"

"Yes… and… you must be Yang…?" He replied, however its then they noticed Jaune's face was looking more… _green_ than usual.

"You… alright?" Ruby asked, worried.

"...never been on an airship..." Jaune groaned, holding his stomach. "The moving and tipping… its making my stomach do flips… "

He then felt his stomach beginning to rumble, and felt something beginning to rise up his throat.

"...Oh crap!" he said, and began to look around for a garbage bin.

He did NOT want to puke on Yang's shoes, like the old Jaune did, and make a bad first impression.

' _Goddamn you Jaune and your FUCKING MOTION SICKNESS!_ ' He cursed in his head, as he heaved into the first trash bin he could find.

"Whoa! Jaune!" Ruby said in worry as she rushed over to help her new friend as he continued to heave into the bin. She placed her hand on his back as she rubbed his back to help him.

"Somebody, please, kill me now-BLAAAAAAARGH!" he was interrupted as he made another heave.

"Whoa, what did you eat before coming on board Vomit-Boy?" Yang asked, though in a more joking manner.

"Ugh… just some cereal is all..." Jaune groaned, shaking his head. "I… didn't wanna eat some big, huge meal… ugh, but the _swaying_ on this ship… o-oh fuuAAACCGHGHHH!"

"There there," Ruby patted his back, "We'll be at Beacon in no-time, hopefully your stomach settles by then."

Jaune just gave Ruby the 'ok' symbol with his hand as he continued to empty his stomach.

They were so focused on Jaune, that they missed the whole news feed - but instead heard the 'ding' noise as Glynda appeared on the holographic displays. " _Hello, and welcome to Beacon!_ "

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

" _My name is Glynda Goodwitch._ "

"Oh."

" _You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world._ " With that said, Glynda's image vanished.

Hearing the commotion from the other students by the windows, Ruby left Jaune as he stayed hovering over the trash bin, not wanting to accidentally throw up on someone, and headed to the window.

And her eyes widened in excitement as she looked at the city below her.

"Wow! You can even see Signal from here!" she said as the Airship flew over the city of Vale and towards the bay that separated it from Beacon Academy. "I guess home's not too far after all,"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, as her sister stood next to her enjoying the view.

"Beacon's our new home, now," the brawler said, before Jaune's groans got their attention again.

"Oh! Sorry, Jaune!" Ruby said, as she went back to help him.

"I knew I should've gotten those damn motion sickness pills...," he groaned out, "...but what did my pride tell me...Noooooooo!"

"Just ride it out, big boy." Yang chuckled, "We're almost there. Just enjoy the view, it sure is… _heavin'ly._ "

"..." Jaune rose his head from the bin and gave her a blank stare. "Booooo." He groaned, before kneeling over and resumed his… _evacuation_.

* * *

 **117Jorn: Well, there we go people. The first chapter of RWBY: Reincarnated. I was inspired to write this fic after reading a Dragonball Z manga where a DBZ fan is reincarnated as Yamcha and uses his knowledge of the future to transform DBZ's greatest zero into a badass.**

 **Also, speaking of that, I have recently set up a poll on my profile reguarding pairings. Notably, if you'd rather this be a Jaune/Pyrrha fic, a Jaune/Pyrrha/Ruby Fic, or an outright Jaune/Pyrrha/Harem fic. Please give it a visit and cast your votes!**

 **Until next time...**

 **Ja ne!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: The Disclaimer was on Chapter 1. Also... gotta admit, I am surprised that, according to the polls, 75% of you guys want this to become a Jaune/Pyrrha/RWBY fic... was not expecting that kind of turnout. Results are not final yet, so vote while you still can!  
**

* * *

 **Time: ?**

 **Location: ?**

* * *

All he could see was pure utter blackness... that was it.

The only thing he could remember, was walking to the movie theater with his grandparents to see a new, and rather interesting film, only for him to see a bright flash, and the feeling of a thousand sharp blades cutting into him. And that was it.

Now, he was here. Alone, confused, and more troubling, scared.

He didn't know how long he was here for, but Goddammit, he needed at least something or someone to talk to, or pull him out of this darkness before it drove him insane!

And that's when he saw it...a small flicker of light, just above him.

He noticed that he felt like he was in a lake, and the weight of water pushing down on him. However unlike water, whatever he was in felt like tar. But regardless, he needed to get out of here, and toward that light.

* * *

Along the wastelands of Drache, in a castle overlooking the ponds of black tar which spat out Grimm after Grimm of various shapes and sizes, their leader and queen, Salem, stood over a balcony as she stared up towards the fractured moon of Remnant. Her face holding a calm, almost content expression as she listened to the distant howls and screeches of the creatures of Grimm as they breath their first breaths through her domain.

' _None fight for it, none may touch it, left in complete peace..._ ' Salem mused, as she continued to gaze upon the celestial body up above. ' _How I envy you..._ '

However her muses were interrupted, as she saw a brief flash of light from the corner of her eye. She glanced over in surprise, as she saw a bright light emerging from one of the tar pools that birthed her Grimm into the world. Curiosity replacing her emotionless face, and she was not alone as multiple Grimm amassed around the pool as the light slowly began to fade.

"Milady?" Salem turned as Doctor Watts stepped up next to her. "What is that?"

Salem turned back to the phenomenon before them, and as she looked at the light, she felt something...it took her a moment to realize what this was, and her eyes widened ever so slightly.

It was aura.

"I do not know..." she mused, cupping her chin, "But… let us find out."

"Of course," Watts nodded as Salem turned to leave, the doctor following close behind her as they made their trek down to the Grimm pools.

* * *

The Grimm Horde, which consisted of Ursas, Beowolves, and other species gathered around the pool where the light was, mere animalistic curiosity drawing them to it.

As one Beowolf got closer to the pool, it then erupted as something jumped out, speeding past the beowolf, as it took it's head off in the process, before landing on all fours in front of the large collection of Grimm, panting heavily.

The other Grimm bristled in tension as they looked at the newcomer. To any Human who saw what the Grimm were seeing, it looked to be a normal sized wolf, with black colored fur, and pieces of the white bone that give the grimm their terrifying appearance. Almost looking like a smaller version of a Beowulf, only not nearly as… _intimidating_.

The wolf-like Grimm then looked up at the gathering before it, before it's instincts kicked in. The fur on it's back stood on end, as it bared it's white teeth, it's yellow eyes, unlike it's brethren's mixed yellow and red, glaring at the other Grimm, daring them to approach it. One of the Beowolves, an Alpha, decided to to teach this newcomer a lesson as it howled in challenge and began to stalk toward it.

The wolf Grimm stayed where it was, as the more experienced Grimm moved forward, growling threateningly. The pure yellow eyes of the strange new grimm, glowed as it prepared to fight, only for the Alpha Beowolf to stop and turn it's head along with the rest of the Grimm, before they bowed and moved away, confusing the Wolf, but it did nothing as it kept it's guard up.

"Well… what have we here..." a voice said, and the Grimm turned and spotted two figures walking towards it. The voice that spoke up, was a short man with short black and grey hair, a mustache, and green eyes. He was wearing a blue overcoat with yellow linings, over a black undercoat, a black necktie, and a yellow dress shirt. Seeing the human had put the wolf on edge, as it glared at him.

"I've never seen a Grimm like this before," the man said as he eyed the new beast with an analytical eye, which made the Grimm Wolf uncomfortable, "Of course, the Beowolves don't count,"

The man proceeded to walk toward the wolf, only for it's instincts to flare up, it's fur bristled as it snarled, daring the man to come closer. The man wisely backed off, as a feminine chuckle was heard.

"And more spirited,"

The wolf turned to the second figure, and again it's instincts screamed danger at what it was seeing before it. The second figure looked like a human woman, but just by looking at her, the wolf knew that whatever humanity she had was long gone. Her skin was chalk white, as well her hair, with black veins going up her arms, and around her face. Her black blood red eyes were definitely a giveaway that this...creature, was definitely not a human, at least not anymore.

Salem, looked at the Grimm before her with absolute interest. She knew all the Grimm that had ever existed, of reasons obvious to herself. Yet this Grimm was not of her own knowledge or even creation. It looked more… _natural_ , more like the common wolves found elsewhere in the world of Remnant, with only the bare minimum of Grimm-like features to reveal its true heritage. And clearly, it was intelligent, smart enough to recognize Watts as a potential threat. Usually such intelect only comes after a Grimm ascends to the rank of Alpha, never upon birth.

But most importantly… it had Aura. And with Aura, came a Soul - something that she knew that no Grimm has ever possessed… until now it seemed. If this creature of Grimm had her curiosity at first, it most certainly had her attention now.

Salem began to approach the Grimm, calmly walking towards it as it's growling increased ten-fold.

"Now, now," Salem said, as if chastising a child, waving her hand."There's no need for that here,"

It was clear the Wolf wasn't responding to her command, glaring at her - which did not truly surprise her. Older, more experienced Grimm could be a bit more… _independent_ than their younger ilk, so a Grimm with a soul - with a sense of free will - would likely feel similar urges. With a wave of her hand, her eyes glowed with arcane power. And in sync with her eyes, the Grimm's own eyes began to glow a bright yellow in return.

The small Grimm seemed to shake his head for a few moments, as Salem reached her hand out towards it. "Come." She said, with a calm yet commanding tone. The beast slowly ceased its growling, as it knelt down onto its legs - its glowing eyes looking more… _glazed_ than before.

"There now," she said, and she began stroking the soft dark fur on the wolf's head, "That's better,"

Now that she was close, the Grimm mistress could now feel the aura within the Grimm directly, and it truly was a… _unique_ experience, to feel such power emanating from one of her creatures. But atop of that, he had a surplus of that Aura to be sure - such power she had only seen in a very… _select_ few individuals.

The Grimm Queen smirked slightly, her mind filled from the possibilities that this new discovery could bring them. She gave Watts a look, who's still standing back, watching it all play out.

"Watts, have this one ready for examination," she ordered, "I have a feeling this young one could prove quite… _beneficial_ to our cause."

"Of course, Milady Salem," Watts said, more than eager to find out what makes this Grimm tick.

However, what neither of them knew was the slight widening of the wolf's eyes when it heard Salem's name, and then...a series of memories flashed into his mind.

 _'S...Salem?...W...Watts?...OH HELL NO!'_

"N...No...!"

Salem and Watts blinked at the sound of a guttural sounding voice and looked toward the source, in which they saw the Grimm Wolf shaking with exertion.

"I...will not...," both the Grimm Queen and the disgraced Atlesian Scientist's eyes widened in shock as they couldn't believe what they just witnessed or heard.

"Did It... Did it just...," Watts stammered unable to comprehend what just happened.

"It spoke...," Salem finished, her voice and face filled with shock and awe, as she watched as the wolf slowly but surely stood back up, as it fought her control over it.

"I will not...be...a pawn...in your twisted... game," It spoke again, letting out a deep growl. "I… Will… FIGHT!"

Suddenly there was a blast of Aura, sending shockwaves around them, catching everyone - even Salem - off guard, and the Grimm's glazed yellow eyes shattered, as two cobalt blue eyes replaced them - and immediately the Grimm spun around and leaped over the gathered Grimm, and began running as fast as it could.

The Grimm Horde responded immediately as they gave chase after the rogue Grimm, Nevermores taking flight and Beowolves dashing forward. But the small, nimble Grimm was fast, _very_ fast as it dashed away as quickly as its legs could carry him.

Any Grimm that got in it's way, like the occasional Creep, Boarbatusk, or Beowolf, were easily dispatched, despite it's small size, as heads and limbs went flying, as the wolf, in a blur, just zipped right past them, and easily killed them.

After killing a large number of the interceptors, the wolf then gave a loud howl as it broke through the dark creatures' lines and escaped

Salem's eyes narrowed, as her Grimm chased after it. "Your orders, Milady?" Watts asked.

"Spare no expense getting that… _thing_ back in our grasp." She demanded, "We will send whatever Grimm we must to reclaim it… before Ozpin finds it."

"It will be done," Watts nodded, "If it somehow escapes Drache, I'll be sure our _allies_ will help hunt it down."

"See to it, Watts." Salem stated, as she regained her composure as she began strolling back towards her castle. "This is a chance we cannot afford to lose."

"Of course, your grace."

The Queen continued her walk back to her palace, all the while, her thoughts were on the rare occurrence of a Grimm actually rebelling against her.

In truth...it made her livid inside. She knew that once they brought that Grimm back, she'll do EVERYTHING in her power to make it obey her.

 _'I won't let you go that easily...my Dark Wolf.'_

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **Beacon Academy**

* * *

The Dust Airship which carried the new students to Beacon Academy, began it's docking procedures. Once it docked, the loading ramp extended and the new students began offloading from the airship onto the platform.

"Are you okay now, Jaune?" Ruby asked as she and Yang helped the knight across the ramp.

"Ugh, somewhat...I still feel like hammered shi-ow!" he was suddenly flicked in the ear by Yang.

"Oi, my sister's still underaged for that." She said, "None of that language."

"Fine fine, sorry," Jaune sighed, as the group left the ship - alongside multiple other students, before everyone's gaze is directed upwards as Ruby and Yang both look wide-eyed at the sight of Beacon Academy ahead of them.

However while they looked up in awe, Jaune looked up and saw something else. A flash of dark skies, a massive dragon circling the tower, Grimm overrunning the school, Atlesian Paladins and Knights running amok... he shook his head for a moment, shaking off the thought. ' _Keep it together, trooper._ ' he thought, taking a deep breath. ' _That's not gonna happen this time..._ '

"Ohmygosh, sis! That kid's got a collapsible staff!" Ruby began to gush, pointing out all the weapons the other students were carrying with them. "And she's got a fire sword!"

She tried to follow after the said girl with said weapon, but Yang reached out, grabbed her by her hood and pulled her back.

"Ow ow ow!" Ruby whimpered as she watched the girl and the sword walk away.

"Easy there, little sister." Yang said, "They're just weapons,"

"But they're more than just weapons, they're a part of us!" Ruby said as she continued gushing, "Oh, they're so cool!"

"Why don't you gush over your own weapon?" Yang asked, "Aren't you proud of it?"

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling out the aforementioned sniper/scythe. "I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better..."

"I sympathize with that," Jaune rose his hand, "Talking to people… never my strong suit… _weapons_ though, well..." he gestured to himself and his myriad of weapons on his person.

"I've seen people who sometimes carry multiple weapons, because they're part of a set...," Yang as she looked at the assortment, "But you got enough to outfit a small army,"

"Well, when I started all I had was my sword and shield, Crocea Mors." Jaune said, gesturing to the sword and shield/sheath. "Its a family heirloom, from all the way back to the Great War. But as you could guess, times change, so… I change with them. I just don't want a _single_ weapon because, well… its best to be prepared if I lost one. I mean..." he glanced at Ruby. "...no offense Ruby, but… say hypothetically you were in a fight where you either didn't have Crescent Rose, or it was knocked out of your grasp in battle?"

"I… erm… w-welll..." Ruby muttered, scratching her head sheepishly.

"See? Told you," Yang smirked, patting her on the back. "I'm trying to teach her how to fight hand-to-hand like me and dad, but… kinda of a work in progress still."

Ruby groaned at that, "And it's not fun. I lost count the amount of times I've been thrown on my backside," she said, as she rubbed her rear as if alleviating some pain.

"Hmmm..." Jaune mused, as he racked his brain on fighting styles - both from Remnant and from 'his' world. "What kind of fighting technique are you teaching her?"

"Huh?" Yang asked, "Ummm… well, my dad taught me boxing and kickboxing, so I've been trying to teach that to her… why?"

"Well, maybe Ruby needs to learn a different school of martial arts?" Jaune suggested, causing the girls to blink. "I mean, I love boxing as much as the next guy, but there _are_ other fighting types out there… Vacuoan sword-hands, Mistralian Ikazuchiken, Atlesian CQC… " he shrugged "I actually learned how to fight the latter while I was at Trigger, I could try to give Ruby a few pointers between classes if its alright,"

"...huh..." Yang muttered, scratching the back of her head. "I… never really thought about that..." she glanced at Ruby. "You… wanna give it a go, Rubes?"

"I… I guess?" Ruby shrugged questioningly. "I mean… I might learn something from it I guess..."

Jaune smiled, "Trust me, Ruby, it's always best to find something that suits you," he said as Ruby smiled at that.

"Thanks, Jaune," said the red hooded girl, while Yang smiled at the scene, before looking in a random direction.

"Well guys, my friends just showed up, see ya later!" she said, as three other random people showed, and they and Yang ran in the direction of the academy, but not before running past the two and causing them to spin in place and get dizzy.

"Yang wait! What about our dorms!? Where are our dorms?! Do we have dorms!? ...I don't know what I'm doing!" as soon as she finished she and Jaune both fell back into a baggage cart, with Jaune hitting his head.

"Oooow!" he groaned as he massaged his head, "That… geez!"

"What are you doing?!"

' _Oh god,_ ' Jaune groaned, glancing up as the familiar form of Weiss Schnee stood before him and Ruby, looking utterly furious as she pointed at them.

"Uh, sorry!" Ruby began to apologize, but Weiss wasn't done.

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" Weiss snapped, snatching a case of Dust from Ruby's grasp when she tried to collect them. "Give me that! This is _Dust_ \- mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

' _Pre-Volume 3 Weiss..._ ' Jaune mentally groaned, ' _Oh Joy..._ '

"What are you, brain-dead?" Weiss screeched, holding out a vial of red Dust and shutting the case " **Dust**! Fire, water, lightning, energy!"

"Yes Miss Ice Queen, we are _very_ well aware of the properties of Dust and their variants." Jaune groaned, "Now stop sending dust _particles_ everywhere before you start an incident."

"What are you talking about, you idiot?!" Weiss shouted, waving a jar of dust around, which flew into Ruby's face which was beginning to scrunch up. "And how dare you call me that! Do you even know who I am?"

"You're about to be exploded in a few seconds..." Jaune muttered, taking a step back, and pulling out his shield.

"Exploded?" Weiss asked, as Ruby breathed in. "What are you-?"

"ASCHU!"

*BOOM*

*ZAP*

*CCRRCCKKK*

Jaune lowered his shield, smirking as Weiss was covered in black soot, the jar in her hand going flying away. "For someone who talks a lot about Dust, you forget that in its _literal_ dust form, it can make people _sneeze_." He said, "It doesn't take much to make Dust go boom, after all."

The reaction he got was Weiss growling in anger before turning to him, and pointing an accusing finger at his face.

" _YOU_! Be silent!" She snapped at Jaune before turning to Ruby, "And _YOU_! This is exactly what I'm talking about!"

Ruby poked both of her index fingers together nervously as she looked apologetically at the SDC Heiress.

"I'm really, really sorry," she whimpered.

"Ugh! You complete dolt!" Weiss yelled, and would've continued but Jaune stood between her and Ruby as he crossed his arms giving her a deep frown.

"Hey! I think that's enough. You made your point, okay Snow Sprite?" He said, and Weiss only got angrier.

"Didn't I tell you to be silent!?" she asked rhetorically.

"Yes, you did. I just didn't listen, because 1) I'm not of your False Schnee Dad's little army of goons, and 2) I just don't give a Rat Grimm's little butt," he stated, causing Weiss' eyes to widen in shock.

"I… Yo… w-wha…?!" Weiss sputters incomprehensibly, her face burning red. "D-Do you know who I am?!"

"Of course I do, Ice Princess," Jaune said.

"It's heiress, actually." Another voice chimed in, as Jaune had a faint smirk as his next favorite RWBY character came to the scene - Blake Belladonna, in her V1-3 outfit, holding the dropped canister of Dust. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

Weiss smirked smugly. "Finally some recognition."

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Blake finished off.

"Zing." Jaune mutter not-too-quietly as he helped Ruby back to her feet. Weiss meanwhile, was further shocked and angered by what Blake said.

"Wha...!? You...!? UGH!" she huffed angrily as she swiped the red dust vial from Blake and began storming off. Ruby not liking how it ended, and being the nice person that she was, called out to her.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" she yelled, but the white haired girl didn't seem to hear her, causing the little Rose to sigh sadly. "Guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day,"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked at Jaune who was smiling at her.

"It's okay Ruby, if what I heard about her father is anything to go by, her attitude is somewhat understandable," he said. "I'd be a snobby brat too if my father were some rich, greedy CEO shoving propaganda in my brain."

"I guess…" Ruby said, before she began to turn towards Blake "So, what's..." however the secret Faunus was already walking away from the pair, as Ruby sighed, falling to her knees again. "Welcome to Beacon, I guess..."

"Well, let's not let the very first day judge our entire experience," Jaune assured, helping Ruby back up to her feet. "Come on, let's see if we can find out where to go from here."

Ruby nodded and the two friends went off in search of where they needed to go.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **Location: Emerald Forest**

* * *

He panted hard as he laid against a tree, tired from all the constant running he done since his escape from that dark hell, and away from that bitch. He didn't know how long he had been running… days? A Week? But dodging any Grimm that came after him made him ignore that part, deeming unimportant at the moment.

But there were questions going through his mind considering his... _current predicament_.

The single more… _glaring_ issue is the fact that somehow… he was in the world of Remnant, in the world of RWBY. That alone was _absurd_ \- more absurd as he looks at his wolf-like form, which was very, _very_ clearly that of a Grimm.

' _What in the actual fuck is going on here?_ ' He thought to himself. ' _What… what the hell happened?!_ '

He then shut his eyes, as he tried to remember how. Only to howl in frustration.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME!?"

With that he collapsed on the ground as tears escaped from his eyes.

' _What do I do'_ he thought, ' _I...I can't just go to Ozpin, fuck that! He'll probably have Ironwood study me like a fucking lab rat! Who do I go to? Who can I trust?_ '

He then lifted his head as he looked around until his eyes landed on the emerald CCT tower of Beacon. Seeing that it was still standing, and the lack of Amity Coliseum anywhere in sight meant that the Fall hadn't happened yet.

' _I can't just… walk over there..._ ' He pondered, as he groaned. ' _Any Huntsman would shoot me on sight, being a Grimm… gah..._ ' the Wolf shook his head again. ' _Of all the things to be in this world… why did I have to be a fucking GRIMM?!_ '

He then took deep breaths as he managed to calm himself down, while at the same time feeling weary from the long dash he had done from Salem's Castle in Drache, crossing the small channel between said Dragon continent and Sannus, through Vacuo, and southern Vale. Despite being a Grimm, he felt the same as he did when he was still a human.

 _'I'll...try to think on this tomorrow,'_ he finalized, ' _I'm...too tired to even think straight right now,'_

With that, he lowered his head, and closed his eyes as he fell asleep, but no dreams will come to him for the day, or the following night.

Unbeknownst to him, a single red light was blinking in a tree, as a lense zoomed in on him, watching as he slept.

* * *

" _Seven_ sisters?!" Ruby asked with wide eyes, "You have _seven_ sisters?!"

"Yeah, it's… very difficult." Jaune nodded with a chuckle, "Especially being the only _boy_ in the family, excluding my dad of course."

"W-well yeah, but… geez..." The Red Sniper muttered, as the pair walked through Beacon towards the auditorium. "I've only had Yang, but… I could _never_ imagine having _six more_ on top of that!"

"Consider yourself lucky," Jaune sighed, "It gets… _hectic_ very fast at home… don't even get me started on sibling rivalries, I'm talking stuff you'd only expect from T.V, alliances, betrayals… home was like a _warzone_ at times..."

Ruby listened, and the more she heard from Jaune about the troubles of having multiple siblings, the more she was glad that Yang was her only sibling.

"Wow...I do not envy you in any way, shape, or form," she deadpanned.

"Huh! I didn't even got to the teasing yet!" Jaune said as he threw his arms up into the air, "I told them about a dream I had that ended badly in the end, and what was their reaction? Laughing like a pack of hyenas, and saying that even my dreams need saving!"

Ruby blinked at that, "Why would they say that? From what I saw last night, you're a total hotshot!" she questioned astonishedly, and Jaune sighed.

"Let's just say, before I entered Trigger Academy, I was...not what you see right now," he said, with a slightly miserable tone. "Skinny, barely a muscle on my bones… I would've been _way_ out of my league if I was who I was back then."

"What changed?" Ruby asked.

"Commitment," Jaune informed with a smile, "I decided to… well, buckle down and get to it. I started training, taking a few odd jobs for cash to burn. If it wasn't on food and stuff, it was spent on modding up my gear, and building my weapons." He gestured to his sword and shield/sheath. "I love my family sword as much as the rest of my family, but I didn't want to fall into the same… _pitfall_ a lot of other Huntsman and Huntresses fall into."

"What's that?"

"Dependency," He explained, "I mean, sure if I lost a weapon I could go hand-to-hand, but it can pay out big time to have a few spare side-arms on ya," he gestured to his Atlesian Revolvers. "That's why I keep these on me with my knives and all. One should _always_ be prepared for whatever life throws at them… its kinda the mindset I had when I made Commando." He pulled out the aforementioned weapon. "It's an assault rifle, sniper rifle, grenade launcher, _and_ can easily be modified to mount a shotgun attachment. Plus I've rigged up my weapons to fire off grappling cables with ease, so I can travel around quickly like last night."

Ruby's eyes were wide looking at Commando, practically sparkling. "Whooooaaaaaa..." she oogled the weapon. "So many weapons… in just… _one_ … and you have _more_..."

"Yeah… I'd call Commando my greatest creation so far," He nodded, "Along with some… _additions_ I made to my armor for modern combat… so what about your weapon?"

"Huh?" Ruby questioned as she stopped oogling Commando

"What about that rifle/scythe of yours?" Jaune asked, "I saw you use it during the robbery… you called it Crescent Rose?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Ruby nodded eagerly as she pulled out the aforementioned weapon, extending it fully. "I based it off of my Uncle Qrow's Scythe, but I designed mine more as a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle!"

"So it's also a gun," Jaune smirked, "Nice. So is it just the scythe and gun? Ever thought of adding a third function?"

"Like what?" Ruby asked, tilting her head.

"Well… why not a sword?" Jaune shrugged, "If you can fold it up the right way, put all the blades onto one side, it could make for a good swinging blade. That way it could be used for stabbing a Grimm just as much as it could slash e'm - combine that with the added weight and recoil, and it'd deal some serious damage."

Ruby seemed to process that thought for a moment, before once again her eyes widened. "Omygoshwhydidn'tIthinkofthat!" She shouted quickly, as the possibilities filled her mind.

Jaune laughed as he watched Ruby begin mentally kicking herself.

"Just now figured it out, eh?" he asked, only to get a slap on the arm.

"Quiet you!" Ruby reprimanded as she gave an angry pout, which to Jaune made her look like an adorable anime character.

"Okay, okay, sorry. Though before you go off making the modifications to your baby," he said, "Let's first get to the orientation before we're late,"

Ruby's eyes widened at that, "Oh right!" she said in realization, before she looked around, "Uuuhhh, where are we supposed to go again?"

"The directions I got before we got here said the amphitheater," he said, as he looked around for the said building that he remembered from the show back in his old life. "So… this way I think."

Finding the amphitheater wasn't difficult, as the pair followed the commotion as they entered a large auditorium-like structure, that reminded Jaune more of a cathedral than anything else.

"Hey! Ruby!" Both of them glanced up as Yang was waving towards them. "Come here! I saved you a spot!"

"Oh!" Ruby waved back, before glancing back at Jaune. "Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!"

"See ya, Ruby!" Jaune said, as Ruby went off to join her sister. He took a deep breath as he glanced around. "Well… here I am I guess…"

He then moved towards a bit to the front in order to get a good view of Ozpin. As he found a spot, he suddenly had a feeling of being watched, and raised his left arm as if to scratch his head, but in actuality, to use the mirror he placed in his gauntlet to look behind him, and his eyes widened slightly, as he spotted none other than Pyrrha Nikos, who was looking curiously at him.

 _'Oh boy...,'_ he thought, _'...okay man, don't freak out. It's cool. It's not everyday you see a gorgeous looking Spartan girl who you know from a internet show, fell in love with the gullible idiot that was formerly you, who's gonna die in the next half year...oh crap, what am I thinking!?'_

Jaune gulped in some air as he put his arm down, hoping she didn't notice. ' _Just… be calm, be calm._ ' He repeated in his head. ' _No need to worry right now, just… don't make a scene, don't do anything-_ '

"Hi there!"

"GAH!" Jaune shouted as a high-pitched and excited voice was right up next to his ear, causing him to leap five feet off the ground, whirling around at the source - only causing his eyes to widen further at the sight of the third member of Team JNPR, and the local expert of making big booms: Nora Valkyrie - with a big toothy grin.

"Hi! I'm Nora! What's your name!? Where are you from!? Oh, what does that weapon do!?" Nora started chatting away in her fast paced voice that every RWBY fan knows, as she zipped around to get a better look at Jaune and the Commando, the former who was looking rather uncomfortable.

"Uh...well, to answer the first, my name is Jaune," he said, "Second, I'm from a village in Northern Vale. And as for the third, the weapon's name is Commando, it's a three in one weapon, with attachments."

"OOOOOHHHH! Whatdoesitdo!? Whatdoesitdo!? Whatdoesitdo!?" Nora continued all the while getting in Jaune's face, which made knight back up uneasily. However, thankfully, he was saved.

"Nora!" a calm voice called out, and Jaune looked over and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the only person that can calm Nora down...Lie Ren.

' _Cue from Pat's religion...Praise the LORD!'_ Jaune mentally screamed in joy.

"Ren! You're the one who told me to meet new people!" Nora whined.

" _Not_ by getting up in their faces, Nora..." Ren groaned as he walked up to them, "Apologies, Nora's a bit… _eccentric_ ,"

"I uhh, noticed..." Jaune muttered, scratching his head sheepishly. "Well… regardless it's… nice to meet you both I guess… like I said, I'm Jaune."

"Lie Ren," The local Ninja introduced with a short bow, "And that's Nora Valkyrie,"

"Hi!" Nora repeated, her grin still ever present. "Sorry!"

"Its cool… just… surprised me is all," Jaune muttered, scratching his head slightly, before suddenly the intercom came to life - as all attention went to the front stage where Ozpin stood before the first years, along with Glynda by his side.

"I'll... keep this brief." Ozpin began, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

Multiple students began to whisper among themselves. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Jaune's eyes narrowed slightly, watching as Ozpin stepped aside, Glynda taking his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight." She informed, "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed. "

"Well… the headmaster seemed… weird." Nora voiced.

"He did seem kinda… _off_ ," Ren nodded.

"Like he wasn't even there," Jaune muttered to himself, and he knew why. _'I pity the poor guy who that damn wizard chose to be his body.'_

He then sighed as he looked to his future teammates.

"So, where in the world are you guys from?"

* * *

The day went on, rather uneventfully as it eventually became night time as the first year students all settled down in the ballroom, provided with sleeping bags with everyone preparing for some sleep, and for whatever the next day would throw at them.

Ruby was lying down, already set in her own PJ's as she wrote in her journal, a small frown on her face, as she thought about… _earlier_. Before she could give it much more thought though, Yang crashes next to her, adorn in her own sleeping outfit.

"It's like a big slumber party!" She exclaimed with a grin.

Ruby sighed slightly, not bothering to look up from her pages "Don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." She muttered.

"I know _I_ do," Yang said, making a purring noise, while glancing up at the collection of men who were horsing around and/or flexing before bed. Though one in particular caught her eye as she smirked. "Rubes, look."

Ruby sighed, glancing up… and her face turned a few shades darker as Jaune Arc walked inside - wearing a set of black PJ pants, and a white muscle shirt that was _just_ tight enough to show off his well-developed six pack, and the extra muscle to boot. Sure he wasn't a bodybuilder, but still… them abs…

He paused in his walk for a moment, as he glanced over at where Yang and Ruby were - and when he did, Ruby immediately darted her view back towards her journal. "It isn't nice to stare…" she muttered to herself.

Yang's smirk widened slightly, but her attention went to what her sister was writing. "What's that?"

"A letter to the gang back at Signal." Ruby smiled, "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."

"Aw, that's so _cuuute_ ," Yang teased, before a pillow was tossed into her face.

"Shut up!" Ruby frowned. "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!"

"Well, there's Jaune," Yang said, still smirking. "He's pretty nice, so there! Plus one friend!" She then leaned forward a bit "But maybe… he's a bit… _more_?"

"Stop it!" Ruby shouted, throwing another pillow at Yang, her face red once more. "B-besides, Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero…"

"I doubt the term _negative friend_ even exists, Ruby," Ruby's eyes widen before her head snapped in the direction of the source of the familiar voice as Jaune knelt down next to her. A light flush lit up her cheeks as she saw how close he was.

"Oh! H-Hey Jaune! How was the rest of the day for you?" she said stammering a little.

Jaune, a little confused at the slight stammer in Ruby's voice, just gave a slight shrug.

"Oh, not too bad," Jaune said, "Made a couple new friends... though, one of them could be a little bit eccentric, the other was rather stoic, but… nice people. Pretty sure you'd get along with them."

"Ugh… even _you're_ having better luck than me…" Ruby groaned, flipping over to cover her eyes.

"Oh come on, Ruby - its just one day, and ya haven't even made teams yet." Jaune smiled, "Don't let _one_ bad apple ruin a whole forest of possibilities - you are literally _surrounded_ by potential friends - you just haven't met them yet is all!"

"Exactly!" Yang pointed at Jaune nodding "Couldn't of said it better myself!"

The sound of a match lighting up, and the glow of candle light caught their attention as they looked over, and saw none other than Blake as she was reading her book, dressed in her black kimono pajamas. Ruby blinked in recognition as she saw her.

"That girl...," she said, which Yang turned to look at her.

"You know her?" she asked.

"Not really... she saw what happened and helped me and Jaune out," Ruby answered, and sighed a little, "We never got a chance to thank her."

Yang then smirked again.

"Well, this is your guys chance!," she said and stood, causing both of them to blink.

"Wait, what?" Jaune said, before being grabbed by the arm, along with Ruby, by the blonde as she pulled them along.

"N-No! Wait! What are you doing!?" Ruby squeaked in protest, but Yang wasn't having it as her grip was ironclad strong.

"OW! YANG! MY ARM IS NOT MADE OF IRON YOU KNOW!" Jaune added his own protest as he and Ruby were helplessly dragged before the Cat Faunus in hiding.

The aforementioned woman heard the commotion as she peaked her eyes over her book to watch as a blond-haired beauty dragged a young girl and a man towards her. "Hel-looooo!" the lead said in a sing-song voice, "I believe you three may know each other? "

Blake rose an eyebrow as she looked at the two, before blinking "Aren't you the girl that exploded?" She questioned Ruby, before glancing at Jaune "And you're the guy who talked down Weiss Schnee?"

"Uh, yeah! My name's Ruby! But you can just call me Crater..." Ruby began to say before smiling embarrassingly, "Actually, you can just call me Ruby."

"Jaune Arc, Nice to meet you miss…?" Jaune asked.

"Blake." She said, looking a bit irritated.

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister!" Yang smiled "I like your bow!"

"Thanks..."

Jaune glanced at the book cover "Ah, Jekyll and Hyde," he said, causing Blake to blink. "Can't beat the classics, right?"

"You… read this book?" She asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I do a lot of reading in my spare time." Jaune admitted as he sat down. "Well, when I'm not training, customizing my gear, or just doing other things. I've always liked those older fairy tales and fantasy books, especially the ones that talk about science gone crazy like that and Frankenstein - ever read that one?"

"Y-Yeah," Blake nodded, looking a bit more invested in the conversation now. "I… read it all the time when I was younger, what about Phantom of the Opera?"

"Read it, and my family went to an actual showing of the musical a while back," Jaune said, "Granted I was too young to really appreciate it, but reading the book helped me understand it a bit better… always kinda wondered what it'd be like to be in one of those big musicals..."

"You like musicals?" Yang asked with a brief snort, as he simply shrugged.

"I'm a sap for music in all its forms," he defended, "Seriously, at least half the stuff in my scroll is dedicated to music alone."

"Wow, and I thought I was the only one," said Ruby, "What tunes do you have?"

"Well, let's see-," Jaune was about to start, when an unwanted interruption occurred.

"Hey you!"

Jaune mentally groaned at that. " _Oh fuck...forgot this part,"_ he thought as Weiss angrily stomped toward them.

"A lot of us are trying to sleep, thank you very mu-!" she was about to finish before realizing who it was she was chewing out.

"Oh no! Not you again!" Both her and Yang shouted at the same time.

"Shh! Guys, she's right! Everyone's trying to sleep." Ruby said quietly, trying to act as the voice of reason.

"Oh, _now_ you're on my side!"

"I was always on your side! "

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!"

Jaune simply sat next to Blake, who rolled her eyes at the sight "Well, this will be a particularly interesting relationship here," He said.

"Hm… maybe." Blake mused, as she closed her book, leaning over to her candle light, and blowing it out.

* * *

 **Author's Note: If anyone is wishing to have OC's in this story, then now is your chance! I need OC's for a cyber warfare/Technology-based team called Team DGIT that will be appearing soon, so if any of you have character ideas, hit me with them and I'll see if they'll work together!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Disclaimer on Chapter 1. Very glad this story is recieving positive feedback so far. I know some of you do not like the addition of OC's and other self-inserts, but first let me assure you that Jaune and the Grimm will be the only self-inserts. No more. As for OC's, that's kinda needed since its to allow me to explore new plot lines that aren't done in the show, plus I want to beef up content between and during the events of Volumes 1-3. So that way you people aren't just reading modified versions of the RWBY transcripts through most this story. But do not worry, as I promise to keep the focus on the main crew.**

 **Also, a fair warning on the topic of OC's. You may expect to see a few OC's from Patriot-112's stories, largely so I can beef up content since even as V6 is still going on to this day, there is still much about the RWBY-verse that is left to guess-work. Plus, this is fanfiction so we are allowed to have a bit of fun now, right? If you have any issues, feel free to express them in your reviews so we might take steps to make this story a bit more enjoyable for you.**

 **So, without further adue - let's kick this off!**

* * *

 **Time: The Next Morning**

 **Location: Emerald Forest**

* * *

"Urrrrgghh!" he groaned as he stretched from his long sleep on the forest floor, his back making a few satisfying creaks. Surprisingly, it oddly felt rather comfortable, considering he was now a Grimm version of a normal wolf. He shook his head of those thoughts, as he looked ahead of himself, trying to think of what he could do to find someone who could help him.

 _'Easier said than done when half of the world is scared of me, while the other half wants to hunt me down, kill me, and place my skin on a wall,'_ he mentally groaned, while rolling his eyes, _'And not to mention Miss Queen of Death is still sending her little pets after me...though I guess I should be lucky it's just the grunts like Beowolves, Ursa, and Nevermores, and not those crazy strong ones like Lancers, Beringals, or...worse,'_

He of course was talking about the half human-half horse monstrosity known as the Nuckelavee, whom he and a friend of his both agree that it is the most scariest Grimm ever. He sighed, while he shook his head to get rid of such thoughts.

"Well, better get moving," he spoke to himself, "Don't want to stay in one place too long,"

With that said, he began to walk away through the brush of the forest, unaware of being watched by the hidden camera...and a certain glowing jellyfish that made a series of clicks as it watched the wolf Grimm walk away.

* * *

Jaune took a deep breath as he passed through the locker rooms, following the listing to find the locker containing his own gear. ' _Okay… this is gonna be the first time you actually_ speak _with Pyrrha,_ ' he mentally prepared himself, ' _Just… stick semi-close to what Jaune said in the show, but… just show some originality… got it, simple, easy, nothing can go wrong… I hope..._ '

They had gone through the full morning routine - wake up, breakfast, wash up, and now it was finally time. Do-or-die time. Jaune had a very important task, and that was to make absolutely sure that RWBY and JNPR would be formed.

Needless to say… pressure was mounting.

As he walked through the lockers, he began to hear familiar voices downwind "-not wish to be on the same team as me?"

"What? No! Of course I do! I just thought... I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!"

Jaune smiled a bit as he saw Yang and Ruby begin their little argument - however he paid it little mind, as his attention was diverted towards the other pair in the locker room at the moment. One was Weiss, but the other was of course the target of all his efforts to save from her fate: Pyrrha.

While he saw her yesterday, seeing her now more directly was different. She was just so… _beautiful_. Her red hair tied into a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet. She had light green eyeshadows at the far upper corner of her green eyes, and was also wearing her signature armor, a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the center, and an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms, with a vambrace on her right arm, and finally a red, ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt.

Jaune found himself just… staring at her for a few moments - sure seeing her animated was one thing, but… seeing her in real life? It was just pure perfection. Easily one of the strongest, most beautiful...

Jaune, finally catching up to himself, shook himself to get his mind out of the gutter.

 _'CRAP! What am I doing!?'_ he thought, _'I'm oogling an animated character...albeit a smoking hot animated character with very reveal - STOP IT!'_

He took a deep breath as he stepped towards them, just after Weiss asked about teams. ' _You're just keeping her alive for when the_ real _Jaune Arc comes back…_ ' he thought with a deep sigh. ' _He deserves her more than me anyways… your just helping keep his foot in the door - that's it.'_

He took another deep breath, and as Weiss made her 'plotting' pose, Jaune cleared his throat. "Ya know, if you continue contort your face like that, it'll get stuck like that snow sprite."

Weiss's eyes twitched as she turned to face him. "You again?" She growled.

Jaune sighed "Okay look miss Schnee, we got off on the wrong foot yesterday," He said, "I just didn't like how you were treating Ruby, so how about this - new day, first _real_ day here at Beacon, why don't we start off fresh? So… hi, I'm Jaune Arc, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you Jaune!" Pyrrha spoke up hurriedly.

"Oh, nice to meet you too…?" Jaune trailed off, acting the role of ignorance.

"...do you have any idea who that is?" Weiss questioned disbelievingly.

"Not really, no." Jaune said - not noticing Pyrrha's eyes beam happily.

" _This_ is Pyrrha Nikos!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved.

"She graduated top of her class at Sanctum!"

"Never heard of it."

Weiss scoffed "She's won the Mistral Region Tournament four years in a row, a new record!?"

"I don't pay attention to sports."

Weiss's eyes twitched angrily, before waving her arms, "SHE'S AT THE FRONT OF EVERY PUMPKIN PETE'S MARSHMALLOW CEREAL FLAKES BOX!" She screamed.

Jaune looked at Pyrrha again, before snapping his fingers "Oh yeeeaaah!" He said, "I thought there was something familiar about you! Pumpkin Pete always does that for big celebrities and cartoon characters. Your picture was hand-drawn, didn't known if you were a real person or just another animated character from some show."

Pyrrha laughed a bit "Yeah… it was pretty cool," she said, "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

"Not if you work off the extra calories in training." Jaune retorted, with a smirk. "I've had Pete's for breakfast for most of my days at Trigger, and look where I am now!"

Weiss rolled her eyes "Whatever, anyways after hearing all of that, do you really think you're in a position to ask _her_ to be on your team?"

Jaune glanced at Pyrrha again, before shrugging. "Yup." He said plainly.

Weiss blinked at that, "Wait, wha... What do you mean 'yup'!?"

"It's just what I said, Yup," he said again. "See, I said it again,"

Weiss glared at the blonde knight as she began to grit her teeth, as an unladylike growl escaped her lips.

"Are you mocking me?" she grounded out, while Jaune smirked.

"Nope, just stating what is possible," he said. "Don't give a crap who you or she were before Beacon, from here on we're all training to become the future guardians of the four Kingdoms, so we are all equal in that case, regardless of our heritage. So we best start learning to work off of each other - because as grim as it may sound, we're either gonna fight together, or die alone. And I for one prefer the former over the latter."

Both girl's eyes widened at the apparent wisdom that Jaune conveyed.

"T-That's...," Weiss muttered, while Pyrrha finished for her.

"...Very wise," she said, which caused Jaune to scratch the back of his head sheepishly.

"It's nothing really, just one of the cardinal rules of the Arc Family," He said, "It's been our unofficial creed for generations since before the Great War of Remnant...which my great great grandfather, fought in."

"He did?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, and I still use his sword and shield - been passed down my family from father to son ever since," Jaune said as he pulled out the aforementioned gear - having collected it earlier. "Of course, I'm nowhere near his, nor my grandfather and father's respective levels, and I'm happy with my own weapons, but...I didn't have the heart to just leave it at home and let it collect dust. And, to be quite honest, I have deep respect for the classics, as much as I love how weapons evolved today,"

He gave a brief demonstration as he pulled out Commando "Might not be the most… _civilized_ weapon, but it gets the job done in ways a sword can't." He said shrugging.

"That is true," Pyrrha said in agreement, "I don't judge a weapon by it's type, only by how it's used,"

Jaune nodded at that with a smile, "Exactly,"

 _"Will all First-Year hopefuls, please report to Beacon Cliff,"_ came Goodwitch's voice on the intercom, " _I repeat, will all First-Year Hopefuls please report to Beacon Cliff, your initiation will begin momentarily,"_

"Well, that's our cue," Jaune said, "So, all you ladies ready?"

* * *

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin announced to the assembled first years, standing before Beacon Cliff, with the vast forest in question out before them.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams.'" Glynda informed, glancing at a large Scroll. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... **today**."

"What? Ohhh…" Ruby fidgeted in her place, but Jaune gave her a reassuring smile.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin continued, "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

" **Whaaaat?!** " Ruby screamed out with wide eyes.

"Relax Ruby," Jaune assured, "It'll be fine, you'll get a good team."

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest." Ozpin went on to explain, "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you **will** die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune rose up his hand.

"Good! Now, take your positions."

Everyone strikes a pose on their tile, Nora crouches low, Ren wields his pistols, Yang raises her fists, Ruby readies her body after a few nervous breaths.

"Professor Ozpin?" Jaune called out, "So… am I right to assume that you aren't giving us any form of transportation into the forest?"

"Yes." Ozpin replied. "You will be falling."

"And you didn't think it might be wise to give us some parachutes or something along those lines?" The Arc warrior again asked, as the platforms began launching students one by one into the air.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin reinforced.

Jaune glanced at the platforms, as Ruby and Yang were next to launch up. He gave the headmaster a simple glare. "You just do this to have some kicks in throwing your students to the _literal_ wolves, don't you?" he asked.

Ozpin said nothing… but had a small smirk as Jaune's own platform fired off. "YEEEEEEEHHHHAAAAWWWWWW!" he screamed out as he was sent flying off into the air.

* * *

Pyrrha held her shield up as she literally _rammed_ through several trees, shattering them upon impact before landing on the branch of one - her speed decelerating as she wasted no time in summoning forth her weapon - the rifle scope out as she scanned the horizon for enemies or other students.

Her attention was quickly drawn to Jaune, the boy she had met earlier, who was still in the air. She was just beginning to muse if she should toss Milo his way to stop his free-fall… before suddenly he started… flying? Pyrrha blinked as she used her rifle scope to get a better view, and her eyes widened slightly as she realized what he was doing. He had somehow fit a _wingsuit_ inside his equipment on his armor, his arms and legs spread out like that of a flying squirrel as he gracefully glided down into the forest.

"Bat-maaaan! Dadadadadadadadadada Bat-maaaaan!" She could hear Jaune sing in the distance, once more causing her to blink in confusion, before smiling slightly.

Out of all the students she had met today… Jaune Arc was clearly the most… _unique_. It was an oddly comforting feeling to know someone who… well… _didn't_ know her. Someone she could really start fresh with, without them knowing every fact and detail about her from all the interviews she had done in the past. And even then, he gave off the aura of a person who doesn't let things like fame block his judgement, from the way he handled Weiss.

' _And for being so young, he's awfully…_ wise,' She thought to herself, as she holstered her weapons as she began dropping from the tree - keeping an eye on where Jaune was heading.

* * *

"Okay, moment of truth!" Jaune shouted, as the ground came closer and closer. He pulled his arms back, as he gained a bit more altitude from his inertia - before reaching his arm across, and pulling the ripcord. A few moments later, a parachute erupted from his backpack, as he gripped the strings and guided his descent down into the forest.

' _Sure, HE didn't provide parachutes,_ ' Jaune thought with a grin, ' _Nothing saying we couldn't bring our own!_ ' It was surprisingly easy to have his armor outfitted with the parachute and wingsuit. Technology in Remnant was easily way ahead of Earth's, so such things were rather easy to make and maintain. And considering just how plain _useful_ such equipment could be, as previously demonstrated, why _wouldn't_ you want something like this available at all times?

As the 'wings' to the wingsuit retracted back into the armor, Jaune continued to guide his approach, trying to avoid hitting the trees. But being a forest, it was a bit difficult - and he let out a curse as a branch caught his chute. The sheet then promptly ripped, as Jaune began to fall down slightly, hitting several branches along the way before eventually coming to a stop...

...while still 20 feet up in the air, hanging by the harness of his parachute.

"...well, I didn't snap my neck, so that's a plus." Jaune sighed, as he began working on getting his gear off.

He had tried to pay attention where everyone was landing, to ensure that he would end up relatively close to Weiss and Ruby - which wasn't _too_ difficult. He just had to make sure Weiss would go back and accept Ruby as her teammate.

Kinda why he was being a bit jerkish to Weiss the day before - he had to look… _unappealing_ to Weiss to make sure this happened.

Just as he was starting to pull out a knife to start cutting his way down, he heard a few snapping of branches below, and he glanced down - and sure enough Weiss Schnee was walking below him. She heard the commotion above, and glanced up - and upon realizing who it was, she scowled.

"Sup." Jaune smirked back at her.

Weiss continued to scowl, before suddenly turning back around where she came from - and a few moments later, he heard 'YOU CAME BAAACK!' in the distance in Ruby's voice.

Jaune chuckled slightly as he continued cutting his straps off, until eventually the last thread snapped, and he began to plummet towards the ground. He prepared to brace himself for the landing, only to feel as if someone caught him.

"I don't see many people using wingsuits as _part_ of their gear, I admit."

The modern knight opened his eyes in surprise, as he glanced up to see Pyrrha standing there - smiling slightly as she held him in her arms.

"Oh… w-well, I… prefer to be prepared." Jaune confessed, "Ya know… expect the unexpected, right?... you can let me go now..."

The Spartan Girl of Mistral chuckled slightly as she did exactly that, placing him on solid ground.

"So, I guess this means we're partners?" she asked, and Jaune looked at Pyrrha, and actually saw a hopeful look in her emerald eyes, and nodded as he smiled.

"Yup it does," he said, while thinking, _'Well, phase one is complete. Now for phase two.'_

* * *

He had found this waterfall, along with the pool, not too long ago, the water looked clean and after he jumped in, felt cool to the touch. He swam in the water for a good twenty minutes in order to relieve himself of the grime, grimm blood, and aches, from the who-knows-how-long journey he had from Drache to here in Beacon.

Finally, he swam to the other side before shaking himself dry of the water.

"Aaahh! That felt good!" he said in relief, before hearing a familiar gurgling sound. "Oh great...you're just starting _now_?,"

He was quite honestly surprised that his stomach wasn't giving him problems sooner, but the rush from the adrenaline, and the need to get away from Salem, possibly had made him mentally block all want of food out of his mind. So, it was understandable.

"Well, gotta find a place...aside from Beacon, that has a surplus of food around here. Or, failing that, hunt some poor little rabbit," he thought out loud, and was about to do that, before his sensitive ears caught the sound of a twig snapping.

Immediately entering into a defensive pose, the young Grimm growled as he prepared himself for whatever the enemy could be… or so he thought.

He heard a low clapping noise, like those of horse shoes. That alone sent a shiver down his spine ' _Oh, please don't be what I think you are..._ ' he groaned.

Unfortunately, it looked like fate wasn't his friend that day - as emerging from the forest was, what at first, looked like a large demonic horse, with a skeletal head and two claw-like hooves up front, and two regular horse-like hooves in the back. But there was something on its back, leaning over on one side, almost dragging along… before there was a horrendous snapping noise, as the form moved upright - revealing another demonic skeletal form, with two long arms, and horns on its head.

A Nuckelavee Grimm.

Immediately he tensed at the mere _sight_ of the creature, but noticed a key difference from the one he knew from before. Namely, it lacked the same 'scars' as its more infamous cousin. It didn't have arrows, spears and swords stuck into its back, suggesting this one was perhaps younger?

Still...

"Fuuuuuuck!" he groaned angrily, before the Demon Horse grimm suddenly made it's mouth open as it gave a inhuman screech as it proceeded to charge at him. He used his speed to move out of the way of the charge but quickly noticed that he wasn't moving at the speed he used to escape from Drache.

 _'Crap...it must be hunger!'_ he cursed mentally, as he glared at the Nuckelavee as it human-like torso turned to look at him, as the horse half turned, before it front foot tapped the ground like an angry bull, ' _This is gonna be a rough fight.'_

The Wolf Grimm stayed in his position, before the Nuckelavee gave another, more louder shriek, that echoed throughout the forest.

* * *

"So… why didn't you help with the King Taijitu?"

"Bah, I knew you could handle it,"

Lie Ren shook his head, still smiling slightly as the duo continued through the forest. "So… any idea what the relic will be?"

"Probably something _reallly_ valuable right?" Nora mused with a grin, "Maybe its gold? OH! Maybe its silver! Maybe its Silver _and_ gold!"

"Nora, even if it was-" Ren began to say, before suddenly… they heard it.

It felt like it came from every direction, from all around - an inhumane screech that echoed across the forest, causing both Nora and Ren to stop dead in their tracks - eyes wide in horror.

"R-Ren…?" Nora whispered, all sense of joy gone from her face. "T-T-That… t-that wasn't...I-It c-can't..."

"No..." Ren muttered, his eyes wide as his hand went to a knife on his hip. "That… it can't be here… "

Both teens know that screech anywhere, and it was something they didn't want to hear or see until they were fully ready to deal with it. Nora looked at her friend and partner, her face still fearful.

"W-What do we do? ...Ren?" she queried, as Ren tried to think of something in order to avoid the monster from their past.

"We make for the temple," he said finally, "And try to meet up with anybody there, if we… run into it, we don't fight it… we run."

Nora was quiet, but she nodded her head, and the two friends began to run in the direction of the Northeast.

* * *

"You… never unlocked your aura?"

Jaune sighed as he and Pyrrha walked through the forest. "Yeah… it's kinda embarrassing," he muttered, "Trigger Academy has… _very_ low funding from Vale - most of the money is sent to Signal and Beacon. They encouraged us to find _outside_ help in our careers, hence why I have to… _improvise_ a lot."

"No one even tried to… awaken it by force?" Pyrrha asked, sounding more worried than anything.

"No, all our teachers had their aura awoken naturally through stress," Jaune shook his head, "Like I said, poor funding, and rather… _sub-par_ teachers overall. A few good apples to be sure, but… not many."

"This is… kinda of an issue, Jaune." Pyrrha warned.

"I know, I know - I'm actually hoping it gets awoken while we're here in the forest." Jaune shrugged. "I mean… it's kinda embarrassing to ask one of the teachers _here_ to do it, since they'd probably expect us to have it unlocked by now."

Pyrrha was to say the least, shocked. Her partner never had his Aura unlocked the whole time, and yet managed to do incredible things without it. But, she also knew that if he gets too reckless, he'll end up dead before they could finish initiation.

"Jaune, what if I were to help you unlock your aura?" she asked, causing Jaune to blink.

"Really? You could do that?" he said, feigning ignorance, as the champion nodded.

"Yes, it's an old traditional method from Mistral that my family has used to unlock our Aura for centuries, but it still works," she explained, "I just need to use my aura to unlock yours,"

Jaune was surprised at that, before he looked concernedly at her.

"You sure that's okay? You might get exhausted by unlocking it," he said, but Pyrrha just smiled at his concern for her.

"It doesn't take that much effort, really." She assured, "Plus, if we're going to be Huntsmen and Huntresses, we need to be at 100%, so that includes having Aura. Best to not leave it to chance after all."

Jaune nodded "Well… alright, if you're sure."

The two headed over to a clearing, before she told him to stop as she faced him, before walking up and placing one hand on his left shoulder, and the other behind the head.

"Now close your eyes, and just relax," Pyrrha instructed, and Jaune did exactly that.

Pyrrha then began focusing her aura as she closed her own eyes, before they snapped open, dilated before they closed again.

It was not long until Jaune heard the famous words he heard from the show, though in real life, he could hear Pyrrha's voice speak a more clear, slower, and steady tone with a faint echo.

" _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."_

It was… an odd experience to say the least, as Jaune was overcome with this sensation of power across his whole body. It was like feeling static electricity across his whole body, but it wasn't painful. He felt it across his skin, in his veins, into his very being - flooded with energy coming from within.

' _And I will protect you..._ ' Jaune thought before opening his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was… he was glowing. Yes, in the show Jaune was glowing, so that didn't surprise him… the issue was that he recalled Jaune glowing white, and only _white_. Now? Jaune was seeing white _and_ red flowing over his being, giving a rather odd spectacle, like watching embers in a fire crumble, shift and glow. And the next thing he noticed was Pyrrha… kneeling down on the ground, breathing heavily.

"O-Oh shit!" Jaune knelt down. "P-Pyrrha, are you alright?!"

"F-Fine..." Pyrrha panted, as Jaune helped her back to her feet. "I… I wasn't… w-well, expecting _that_ … "

"What happened?" Jaune asked, looking much more worried than before. Sure she looked _winded_ in the show, but this? She _really_ looked out of breath, as if she had gone a full marathon sprinting. "Did… did I do-"

"N-no, it… wasn't your fault, well… not entirely..." Pyrrha assured, as she took a few moments to steady her feet. "Depending… on one's aura, it takes more energy for someone to… _coax_ it out like I did… " she shook her head "You…. you have an _absurd_ amount of Aura..."

"...really?" Jaune asked, still sounding confused. Sure he knew Jaune had a lot of Aura from the show, but… something was different…

"Yes..." Pyrrha nodded, "If I didn't know any better… it was as if you had the combined aura of _two_ souls, but… that's impossible… but still it… caught me off-guard..."

As Pyrrha said that though, Jaune's eyes widened ever so slightly as he looked at his arms, as the glow began to fade away. ' _...two souls…?_ ' he thought, inspecting himself. ' _But… does that mean…?_ '

However before he could continue, a loud, and VERY familiar inhuman shriek got their attention. One that caused a chill to run down Jaune's spine.

 _'Oh no... oh for Fuck's sake, please no!'_ he screamed in his mind, as the scream of the Nuckelavee echoed through the forest.

"What...W-what was that?" Pyrrha said, actually sounding terrified of the horrifying sound. Jaune however didn't answer as his eyes widened in both fear and horror.

 _'It can't be... it's too soon! What's a Nuckelavee doing here!?'_ Jaune's mind was going a mile-a-minute as he processed how this was happening. On one hand, he was 80% sure it _wasn't_ the Nuckelavee from Mistral, since that would mean it could Swim - which he doubted it could do. But if it was anything like the one that destroyed Ren and Nora's home, it was going to be one tough cookie to take down.

"Whatever it is… it can't be good..." Jaune muttered as he pulled out Commando. "Let's get moving, hope we don't run into whatever made that noise, and get the Relics before we _have_ to!"

Pyrrha noted the sound of Jaune's voice, showing he was as terrified as her. Though, there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, the veteran hunters she was trained by, alway drilled into her that matter how much you show, you'll always feel fear.

Nodding her head, she and her new partner immediately began running toward the Northeast.

* * *

With Ruby and Weiss, both girls froze after they heard that awful screech that seemed to echo through the forest.

"Y-y-y-y-you heard that right?" Ruby said, as she held Crescent tight in her grip, while Weiss did the same with her Myrtenaster.

"Yeah, I did, and it didn't sound friendly," the Schnee heiress complied, actually dropping her ice queen facade. "We need to find that temple fast! Before whatever made that sound finds us!"

Ruby agreed with her partner as she looked around, before hearing the sound of beating wings above her and looked up. Up above, a Nevermore was soaring through the skies, seeming to be heading in the direction they were heading towards.

"I have an idea," Ruby said, grabbing Weiss.

"Wait, what areaaahHHAHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as Ruby suddenly flew upwards in a show of rose petals - firing Crescent Rose to add to their momentum as they flew towards the Nevermore.

* * *

 **Beacon Cliff**

* * *

"What in the nine hells is a _Nuckelavee_ doing in the Emerald Forest?!" Glynda screeched as she looked at the cameras in the forest, clearly showing the aforementioned Grimm trudging through the area.

Ozpin was also looking at the image himself, and he himself was perplexed and worried... The former was quite obvious: major Grimm like Goliaths and Nuckelavee rarely get too close to the academies, or to large human settlements, not unless backed up by a large number of other Grimm, and even then they aren't guaranteed to throw themselves into any assault. They usually pick on smaller towns, nomadic tribes and other 'easy prey'. To see one so close to a Kingdom is unsettling to say the least. This of course made him worried, as while the Emerald Forest was known for being filled with Grimm, the worst any first year would have to face would generally be a Nevermore or a Deathstalker. Nothing along the threat capacity of a beast like _this_.

However, with all that in mind...Ozpin had a hunch on why this particular type of Grimm was here, the one common denominator of it all as he discovered after watching the late night footage from the surveillance cameras the previous evening.

"I think I might know," he said simply, and before Glynda could ask what he meant, the screen showed the nightmarish Grimm's human half fix itself upright in preparation for an attack - but whatever it was attacking was outside the camera's view.

"Professor, we need to get them back." Glynda stated, pulling out her scroll. "They are not qualified to take down something like-"

"Glynda!"

She froze for a moment, as she looked at Ozpin, who continued to watch the footage. "They all knew the risks going into that forest," he said, "There may be much we could learn from this encounter… but send word to Port and Oobleck to meet us here, just in case this _does_ get out of hand. But for now… we wait, and see _why_ such a lethal predator is stalking our forest."

Glynda felt like protesting, since she didn't like the idea of the hopefuls possibly getting killed by one of the most deadly and vicious Grimm species known to all of the Kingdoms. Sure they were trained to be the best huntsmen and huntresses at their respective Combat Schools, but against something like a Nuckelavee was suicide!

But, she knew that Ozpin was right, as she turned to her Scroll and immediately called for the said professors.

"I hope you know what you're doing Ozpin," she said, and the old man sighed.

"So am I Glynda, so am I,"

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile, at the Temple_**

* * *

"Okay, that didn't sound good," Yang said, as she and her partner had just arrived at the Temple.

"...a Nuckelavee..." Blake whispered, with wide eyes as she stared up at the skies.

"A what?" Yang asked, tilting her head.

"I've… seen them before..." She said, "But never fought one… they're some of the strongest Grimm known, along with Goliath's… a single Nuckelavee could wipe out entire villages on its own - even some of the best Huntsmen might not be able to bring it down."

"...so not something we'd want to fight?" Yang asked for confirmation, as Blake sighed.

"Yes, something we should stay far, _far_ away from it, if at all possible." She said.

"...Good idea," Yang said in agreement, before she turned to resume what they were doing before and looking for an artifact, that being chess pieces, to take back before settling on a white knight piece. "How about a cute little pony!?"

Blake rolled her eyes at that, but smiled all the same, "Sure," she said, and the two were about to leave before a sudden, familiar scream got their attention.

"HEADS UUUUUUUUUUUPPP!" Both girls looked up and saw none other than Ruby falling from the sky, as she flailed around…

* * *

"...So we were split down the middle, half the family wanting to go to the Shione, the other half wanting to go to a new resort in Vacuo." Jaune spoke to Pyrrha as they continued walking through the forest. "Eventually it just turned into a cold war between one half of the family vs the other, each trying to convince one another to switch sides to tip the balance in their favor. I swear it's like watching something out of a movie."

Pyrrha giggled as she listened to his story.

"My goodness Jaune...there's just not a dull moment in your family is there?" she said, and Jaune chuckled at that.

"Yeah, well, despite some of the grief my sisters put me through, I still love'em to death...," he then grumbled as he blushed slightly, "...just wished they stopped bugging me about getting a girlfriend, and possibly a new sister for them,"

Before Pyrrha could reply, a rustling in the bushes was heard, immediately putting them on alert as Jaune pulled out his sword - ready to strike whatever came out.

Slowly walking from out of the brush, looking _very_ tired… was a Grimm… it looked like a smaller version of a Beowolf, only its body looked more canine than its larger cousin. In fact he'd almost mistaken it for a regular dog if it weren't for the Grimm-like bone structure pointing out of its body. But there was something else that was… _off_ about the Grimm.

"I got it," Pyrrha said, preparing her rifle.

"Hang on," Jaune rose his hand, causing the Huntress to blink.

"What is it?"

"Look at its eyes."

Pyrrha looked, and once again blinked as she noticed it too… every Grimm she had ever encountered had bright, evil yellow eyes. But this one… this one had bright, calm, cobalt blue eyes.

"That..." She muttered, her eyes squinting. "...isn't… normal..."

"You're right..." Jaune muttered, as the wolf-like Grimm seemed to notice them, and seemed to freeze up seeing them. It was then that they noticed it looked like this Grimm had seen combat recently, with several marks on its body comparable to slash marks.

The Grimm just… stared at them, looking just as surprised as they were.

"...gonna try something..." Jaune muttered, reaching into his backpack, pulling out a few bits of jerky. "Hey, little guy… you hungry?"

The Wolf Grimm, blinked curiously as it looked at them, but once it saw the jerky in Jaune's hand it began to approach, but was being cautious as it walked toward them.

All the while...

 _'Man! I can't believe that I actually ran into Jaune and Pyrrha on their initiation day!'_ the creature thought, _'...But, why is Jaune's armor so different from the show? Not that I am complaining or anything!'_

He felt his stomach growl, signaling again it's want for food, and the fact that the blonde was holding pieces of Jerky in front of it, just ripe for the taking.

 _'Aww man, I'm gonna feel like a fool for this,'_

"Jaune be careful!" Pyrrha said with worry.

"Just… hold on, Pyrrha..." Jaune whispered, as the Grimm began to approach slowly. It was just in reach, slowly opening its mouth… and gnawed on the jerky, taking it out of Jaune's hand and happily started chewing down on it.

"There we go..." Jaune smiled, as he started to pet the Grimm's head. As he did though, he felt… _something_ from the contact, something similar to what he felt when Pyrrha awoke his Aura. It felt like a brief shock of static electricity - and for a brief moment, the Grimm wolf was surrounded by a faint, dark blue aura.

"Did… you just see…?" Pyrrha questioned, as Jaune nodded.

"Yeah..." he whispered, "This Grimm… it has Aura..."

"That… that's impossible..." Pyrrha shook her head. "Grimm are souless beasts, they can't have aura, they have no souls!"

"This one does, apparently..." Jaune muttered, watching the Grimm eat up the jerky. "Well… today is certainly filled with surprises..."

As soon as the Grimm finished eating the jerky, and gave a content sigh, Jaune saw one of it's ears twitch before it turned back in the direction it came from, sniffed the air, before it began growling, fur bristling, as it's cobalt eyes glared.

Jaune, knowing that animals had good senses for detecting danger looked in the same direction, and his look mirrored the wolf's.

"Something's coming..." he said as he readied Commando, and Pyrrha readied Milo and Akouo, both of them preparing themselves as they waited for whatever came out of the brush. And it wasn't long before a familiar clomping reached Jaune's ears, and his heart dropped and his eyes widened.

"...Oh, fuck me...,"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his worst fear was realized as out of the bushes came the stuff of people's worst nightmares. The demonic horse body, slowly trudging along, with it's human like torso drooping slightly, as it's hands dragged on the ground.

Pyrrha had the same expression as Jaune as she watched the Grimm, which she recognized as a Nuckelavee from her studies at Sanctum walk in front of them before it stopped, the horse of the Grimm snorting as it looked at the two hopefuls, and the wolf Grimm. In no time, the hands of the human-like attachment twitched before it finally raised itself upright, giving a zombie-like moan as it looked right at them.

"...Jaune?" Pyrrha said, clearly in fright of the demonic being in front of them.

Jaune stared up at the colossal Grimm - he noticed it lacked all the spears and swords stabbed into it's back, so it wasn't the same one that destroyed Kuroyuri & Oniyuri, and it was slightly smaller - but it was still very, _very_ big. Sure he had fought some smaller Grimm before, like Boarbatusks in Trigger, but… this thing _dwarfed_ anything he had fought before.

Before he could think of a plan, he watched in astonishment as the Wolf Grimm suddenly jumped at the Nuckelavee, just as the said Grimm was about to lash out. The beast let out a loud roar as it reached one of its overly long arms to grapple on the wolf-like creature - before slamming him into a tree, causing it to let out a painful yelp.

This broke Jaune out of his frozen state, as he glared at the Grimm. "Hey!" He shouted, "Pick on something your own size you oversized flailing tube man!" He pulled out Crocea Mors and charged at it.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted, but too late as he started charging - and the Grimm let loose its second arm, but Jaune rose up his shield and batted the offending arm away as he continued his run. He then leaped up into the air - far more than he could before without Aura - before driving the sword right into the torso of the humanoid half of the Nuckelavee.

The Grimm screamed in his face, his ears ringing from the sheer sound of the screech. "SHUT UP!" He yelled at it, as he pulled out one of his revolvers and fired at the head of creature - but his shots bounced off its thick skull plating. However his attacked worked… partly, at least. As the Nuckelavee released the Grimm hound, but them used his hand to then grapple Jaune.

He snarled at the beast, firing his revolver into its hand. But then the Nuckelavee started to spin… and spin, around and around… ' _Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me-_ ' and without further warning, suddenly it released him… and Jaune went flying into the distance, screaming all the way.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out in vain as her teammate went flying off into the sky, leaving her to deal with the tall Grimm… but it was about to get a _lot_ worse as a screeching sound was heard behind her, as a Deathstalker came charging in from the forest.

The Huntress groaned at the sight ' _Today is gonna be one of those days..._ ' she mused to herself, before turning to the Grimm hound… which was gone. This caused her to blink, before she heard a barking noise - coming from the very hound itself a short distance away. The Nuckelavee seemed to zero in on the little Grimm, as it began to give chase to the wolf - which began running as far away as possible, leaving Pyrrha to handle the Deathstalker.

The Scorpion Grimm clicked it's pincers as it looked at the Spartan champion, clicking angrily.

Pyrrha saw by the looks on the bone like shell, covered in scratches and moss, that it was old, and most definitely, nearing Alpha, and knew she would need help in dealing with it. So, she did the most logical thing anyone would do... Leave the area and find back up.

* * *

"Nononononono! I do not want this! I do not need this right now!" Jaune shouted in a mantra as he soared through the air. "I need to get back there! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!"

This was bad, this was very, _very_ bad - he left Pyrrha to face a fucking _Nuckelavee_ on her own! It took Jaune, Ren, Nora and Ruby _together_ to fight just one of those damn things, and they barely did it by the skin of their teeth, and only after _months_ of experience on their journey to Mistral!

' _Need to get back, need to get back,_ ' Jaune thought quickly as he began reaching to his armor to pull out his wing suit function, until…

"...eaaads uuuuuppppp!" He blinked as he looked up - just in time to see Ruby falling towards the ground, and the two were bareling right towards one another at an angle.

"Oh fucking _perfect_ ," Jaune groaned, as he reached his arms out, and collided with Ruby in mid-air, holding onto her tightly as they flew into a collection of trees, before slamming into the side of a tree trunk.

Ruby groaned with swirls in her eyes "Ugghhh… what… was that…?" she groaned, shaking her head.

"An… improvised… landing..." Ruby blinked, as her eyes refocused… and realized suddenly Jaune was right there, holding onto her tightly - his back against a tree with a _very_ sizable dent in it now. "Uh… h-hey Ruby..."

Ruby, for the reason that she couldn't explain, actually blushed in the blonde knight's hold.

"Oh...h-hey Jaune...where did you come from?" she asked, before squirming a bit, "Um...can you let me go now?"

"OH! R-right, sorry...," he said, as she let go of the little reaper and proceeded to crack his back out of the bark of the tree. "As for the answer to your question? ...Let's just say me and Pyrrha ran into a literal demon from hell,"

"Demon?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion. "What do you-"

Suddenly there was a crashing noise, as the two looked from their spot as Pyrrha came running from out of the forest - and trailing behind it was, surprisingly _not_ the Nuckelavee, but rather a Deathstalker just like from the show. Snapping its claws at the Huntress who just leaped through them like a champ.

"Shit, Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted, as he pulled out Commando and began firing down at the colossal Grimm, as Ruby leaped from out of the tree back to the ground.

' _Alright, time for the big guns then._ ' Jaune thought, as he switched Commando into Grenade launcher mode, and loaded a 40mm Grenade into the breach and took aim. "Pyrrha! Duck!" He shouted, as he pulled the trigger.

Pyrrha, seeing Jaune taking aim and his warning, watched the Grenade being fired - and did as instructed as she ducked down, pulling up her shield to block the blast. The grenade hit the back of the Deathstalker, causing the giant Grimm to roar in pain, forcing it to the ground, giving the Huntress time to gain some distance away from the creature as it tried to climb back up.

Jaune prepared to take aim again, however he noticed a shadow pass over him, and looked up as he saw the giant Nevermore up in the sky, circling overhead… as well as spotting Weiss as she lost her grip with the beast, and began falling towards the ground.

' _...do I help her?_ ' He questioned internally, before he groaned. ' _Ugh, stay with the canon, Jaune - just have a better landing._ ' He began running off of the tree branch, launching himself into the air as he pulled out his revolver, setting it into Grapple mode.

He jumped up to where Weiss was falling, and quickly grabbed her with his free arm. "W-What are you-!?" Weiss began to protest, but Jaune ignored her as he aimed his Revolver at the closest tree branch, and fired - the cable wrapping around the branch, getting a good grip. "Clickback!" He shouted, before suddenly he and Weiss were propelled sideways towards the tree. They did a full flip around the branch, before Jaune hit the ground on his knees, holding Weiss in his arms.

Jaune, exhausted from all the activity, took a few deep breaths. "So this… is what it's like… to carry… a team..." he muttered.

Weiss meanwhile was shocked at what just happened. Even after she ditched him, preferring Ruby as the more tolerable choice for a partner due to skill and speed, he still saved her. Sure she could've used her own Semblance to do it, but… the fact that he went so far…

"W...why did you...?" she muttered out as Jaune looked at her and gave a smile.

"Hey, even if we're put in different teams, all Huntsmen gotta put their differences aside in order to survive," he said, as he stood up and placed her back on her feet, "And I for one, prefer to make sure that everyone makes it back… I mean, think how lame it'd be if we died before we became professional Huntsmen, huh?"

Jaune's words stunned Weiss, but before she could make a comment, the sound of the Death Stalker's screeching, and the Nevermore angrily cawing as it flew overhead got their attention. And Jaune's eyes widened seeing Ruby trying to solo the two on her own.

"Shit, RUBY!" He shouted, after placing Weiss down, as he ran forward to support the red reaper of the future team RWBY. "C'mon Weiss, move it!"

Weiss stood up, and saw the situation as the Nevermore let out a stream of feathers down at the ground in a strafing run, one of which pinned Ruby's hood to the ground as the Deathstalker approached. Her eyes narrowed slightly, before she let out a tired sigh as she formed a Glyph beneath her feet, shifting yellow as she darted forward with incredible speed.

Ruby, who was still trapped by the feather pinning her hood cape, looked as the Deathstalker saw the opportunity to kill her, as it skittered toward her, before raising it's stinger before it strikes out at her making shut her eyes. However, instead of feeling the impact, she heard the stinger hit something else...something solid.

"You're so childish!" said the familiar voice of her partner, before her silver eyes snapped open, and she saw none other than Weiss in front of her, as well as a wall of ice, with the Scorpion Grimm's tail imbedded in it, as it struggled to free itself, before it tried to use one of it's pincers, before Weiss froze that too, as she stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground and used her glyphs to teleport the ice to the said limb.

"Weiss…?" Ruby questioned, surprised.

"... _And_ dim-witted, _and_ hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style." Weiss went on, as she pulled her blade from out of the ice. "And I suppose I can be a bit…" She paused for a moment before groaning a bit. " _Difficult_... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if _you_ quit trying to show off, I'll be... _nicer_. "

Ruby bowed her head shamefully "I'm not trying to show off." She muttered, "I want you to know I can do this."

Weiss rolled her eyes "You're fine..." she muttered, as she walked past her.

Ruby gave a sigh, all the while smiling. "Normal knees...," she said before she stood up and actually took the time to observe what her new partner accomplished, "...whoa!"

Her musing was interrupted before she heard footsteps hurriedly making her way to her, prompting her to turn and see Yang running over to her before stopping and giving her a big hug, causing her to groan at the tightness. "So happy you're okay!"

Watching the scene made Jaune smile. Seeing the said scene on the show, back during his old life as Jordan Tackett was one thing, but seeing it up close definitely helped.

He then remembered his own partner and went to check on her as she standing by the ruins.

"Pyrrha! You okay!?" he asked in concern as he looked her over, while said Spartan nodded while smiling.

"Yes...I'm alright," she said, and Jaune sighed in relief at that, before his face became serious.

"What happened after I... took flight?" he asked.

"The Nuckelavee was preparing to attack me along with the Deathstalker, but that strange Grimm barked at it, and the Grimm immediately went after it," She explained, "After they left, I knew that it was better to be safe in numbers, than taking on a older Deathstalker like that by myself, so...I ran here,"

"Good… just as long as you're safe..." Jaune sighed, patting her on the shoulder. "Not leaving you behind like that again, I promise."

Pyrrha blinked a bit at that, before she smiled "Thanks Jaune… don't worry about it." She nodded, before the sound of the Nevermore was heard as it circled overhead.

Jaune went back into game mode, watching as it flew around "The overgrown chicken's coming back around," He hollered out to the others. "No more time for jerking around, time to get what we came for and get the heck out of here."

"Our objective's right there after all," Weiss piped in, gesturing to the relics.

"They're right," Ruby nodded, as both Weiss and Jaune smiled. "Our mission is to get an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no reason to fight these guys."

"Right - everyone grab a chess piece and let's get to running!" Jaune hollered out, as he picked up the gold rook chess piece. "Let's get moving before the big Scorpion breaks free!"

"Right!" Everyone agreed, as they each grabbed whatever relics were left, and with that done the group ran off towards the hills - however Yang paused for a moment, smirking.

"What is it?" Blake asked, stopping next to her. Yang didn't respond immediately, as she looked at the sight of Ruby and Jaune up front - the former standing on a rock, with her cape flapping to the wind as she looked out at the others, while Jaune stood right next to her - his own rifle at the ready his eyes surveying the area around them, and keeping his eyes on the Grimm.

' _Like real heroes… and leaders…_ ' She thought to herself, before shaking her head. "Nothing..." she said, before running after the others - Blake pausing for a moment, before smiling herself as she followed Yang's lead.

* * *

The Nuckelavee roared as it chased after the Grimm Wolfhound, as it kept running through the trees in order to get away from it. However, it was slowly, but surely losing it's strength, as that piece of Jerky wasn't enough to fully get it back.

 _'At least...I got it...away from...Jaune and Pyrrha,'_ he thought, his mind feeling sluggy from all the running, ' _Damn...can't keep this up,'_

His mind was so hazy that he wasn't really able to tell where he was going - all he could focus on was simply getting as far away from the Nuckelavee as possible. The Horseman-like Grimm continued its chase, but as it continued to run into more and more foliage, its progress was slowed down bit by bit - even if it didn't permanently stop it.

The Wolf eventually arrived at a clearing in the forest, where he stopped for a moment to catch his breath - confident he had gotten some distance between him and the Nuckelavee as he lied down for a moment. ' _I… need… a bed..._ ' he groaned, as he looked around… why did this area look so… familiar… with the ruins and the…

Oh.

 _Oh._

 ** _OH._**

"...Shit..." The Grimm muttered, as he heard the screeching of a Nevermore, and looked up just in time to watch as the Nevermore landed atop one of the ruins - its tail frozen in place by ice as a red blur seemed to arc across the sky, catching it by the neck and dragging it up the cliffside.

"...Whoa," he gasped out, "...seeing it in the show is one thing, but seeing it happening now..."

He continued to watch as the red blur dragged up the overgrown Pigeon from Hell, until it reached the top, and the Nevermore's head was cut clean off, and it tumbled into the ravine.

Seeing that the battle was over, he looked around and spotted the three girls standing on what was left of a tower, and then the future Team JNPR, and sighed in relief seeing they were alright.

"Well, they're safe... time for me to-," he didn't finish as a familiar black arm shot out from the woods, and slammed into him, causing him to give another loud yelp of pain.

* * *

Jaune smiled slightly as he saw Ruby standing atop the cliffside, the fight itself went just as it did in the show - no real reason for him to change much else. The teams were formed, they worked together, and kicked ass.

"WHOOO!" Nora exclaimed, pumping her fists into the air. "Now _that's_ what I call teamwork!"

"Yeah..." Jaune chuckled, "We make a damn good team..."

"That was a smart move to use the Deathstalker's own tail against it," Ren nodded.

Jaune shrugged "Well, you were the one that loosened it up enough for Pyrrha's shield to knock it clean off." He said, "Plus, Nora's weapon was the most… _fitting_ to finish the job."

"Hammer time!" Nora shouted, holding Magnhild up into the air.

"Still, you were the one who pointed it out to begin with," Pyrrha nodded, giving a confident smile. "You'll make a great leader, Jaune."

"Well I-" Jaune began to say… before he heard it… _again_.

The loud, sickening screeching that echoed across the land, causing everyone to freeze, including team RWBY at the other end of the ruins. Jaune's eyes flew wide ' _Oh fuck no..._ ' he thought, as he turned around.

And there it was… _again_.

Emerging from out of the forest, its humanoid side limp to its side, emerged the horrid creature once more - it's clopping hooves echoing through the air. And then he noticed one of its arms was already outstretched - pinning down the same Grimm wolf from earlier. Its free hand twitched, before its body jolted back upright - and unleashed yet another roar into the air.

Everyone covered their ears at the unbearable sound, like fingernails drawing across a chalkboard.

"Oh come on! _Really_!?" Jaune said in anger, as he glared at the Nuckelavee as it proceeded on the still struggling Grimm Wolf, as it desperately tried to wriggle free. He then heard a series of thuds next to him, as he looked and saw three quarters of Team RWBY beside him and Team JNPR, before Ruby herself arrived in a blur of rose petals, as she stared at the Horse Demon Grimm with shocked eyes.

"W...What kind of Grimm is that?"

Ren and Nora were frozen stiff, eyes wide looking at the creature that looked all too similar to the beast that destroyed their homes in Mistral, overcome with pure fear at the sight of it. Even though they knew it couldn't _possibly_ be the same one… just seeing another one of that kind just… it sent _very_ bad vibes down _both_ of their spines.

"...A Nuckelavee Grimm..." Jaune growled, "S-Ranked Grimm, destroyer of villages and bane to lower Huntsmen teams…"

The Grimm's humanoid head tilted upwards a bit, before it cracked as it turned around to face them, sensing their overwhelming fear, especially coming from Nora and Ren. Jaune watched its arm twitch, before it suddenly lashed out, aiming right towards Ren.

"REN!" Jaune shouted, as he dashed over towards him…

CLANG!

Suddenly Ren was snapped out of his fear-induced daze, as he looked up, and saw Jaune standing there - his shield out as he caught the Nuckelavee's grasp with the metal barrier. The fighter grunting from the impact before turning towards Ren. "Get your ass up Ren!" He shouted. "Get out of here!"

"W-wha?" Ren blinked.

"Leave this freak to me," Jaune growled, using his free arm to pull out Commando. "Because its about to be fucking _dead_."

"Jaune-" Pyrrha began to protest, but it was too late as he fired off one of his grenades from Commando, which flew forward and hit the Grimm to its side - causing its horse portion to yell in pain, before the humanoid half turned its demonic head towards them.

"HEY YOU FREAK OF NATURE!" Jaune hollered out, "REMEMBER ME? I SAID PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!"

 **BGM: "Swordland" Sword Art Online OST**

Jaune shoved his shield to the side, forcing off the Grimm's clawed hand before he started running towards the Grimm - firing Commando in assault rifle mode letting out a roaring battle cry as he rushed the Grimm. The Nuckelavee hissing at him - letting go of the wolf Grimm, and lashing out his second arm towards Jaune, who batted the arm away with his shield again. Suddenly Commando stopped firing - out of ammunition. But Jaune tossed it aside as he drew out Crocea Mors to resume his charge. As he gripped the blade however, he didn't notice what almost looked like a glyph form on the hilt for a brief moment.

With his sword drawn, he glared at the Demon horse, as both of it's heads looked at him, as the horse body tapped it's front foot on the ground in challenge. And when their eyes locked… Jaune could just smirk at it. "Hey ugly, what's cooking?"

Watching this, the future Teams RWBY and the rest of JNPR could only watch in shock and horror as they watched Jaune stare down the most vicious and perhaps most strongest Grimm, they've seen.

"What's he doing!?" Weiss shouted in genuine worry, "Is he trying to get himself killed!? We're not ready to fight something like this!"

"He's got balls of steel, that's for certain!" Yang put in, actually rather impressed that Jaune was standing up this racing horse reject and it's demon jockey.

"Still Yang, remember what I said!" Blake reminded, "Even the best Huntsmen have had extreme difficulty dealing with a Nuckelavee! Many have even died fighting just one!"

As soon as the Cat Faunus in hiding said that, that caused a surprised reaction from none other than Pyrrha.

"Jaune, please don't!" she called out, "It's too risky!"

"This freak'll follow us all the way back to the Academy!" Jaune shouted, as he continued to jump and weave through its clawed attacks. "We kill this thing now or it'll never leave us alone!"

Suddenly the Grimm seemed to stop, as its torso began to convulsate for a few moments, as its back spines began to grow out, and even its horns seemed to stretch upwards before suddenly it reared its head upwards - and unleashed yet another deafening roar, causing everyone to cover their ears - before suddenly the Nuckelavee began to spin its arms around, and slapping Jaune into the air, soaring right towards the giant ravine beneath the ruins.

"JAUNE!" Ruby shouted, as she started running to try and catch him.

Jaune however growled, as he took his sword and flung it towards the Grimm. "Not gonna stop..." he growled, as his fists tightened. "If I can fight you, it means I'm one step close to killing Cinder, and one step closer to Salem! So you sure as hell ain't killing me!" Jaune prepared to activate his Wing suit to glide back over… but suddenly he blinked for a moment… and just like that he was back on the ground, right in front of the Nuckelavee.

"...wait, what?" He questioned, blinking - before he saw a glow down below, as he looked at saw what looked like a red Glyph over the sword's hilt, and another similar Glyph on his own wrist before the one on the hilt vanished.

Jaune's eyes widened, as he tried to come to terms on what just happened.

' _Did...did I just...teleport?'_ where his thoughts before he shook his and refocused on the Nuckelavee. ' _Figure that out later...right now, kill this fucking thing!'_

With the other's, their eyes all widened at what just happened.

"Did...did he just...?" Weiss muttered out unable to speak out what happened.

"He teleported...it must be his Semblance," Pyrrha said in astonishment. But her concern for the blonde Paladin returned when she saw him take up his sword and faced the Demon Horse Grimm again

"Hey ugly!" Jaune shouted, as the Nuckelavee stared back down at him - and if he didn't know any better, it looked surprised. And he just smirked at it. "Ya missed!"

The Nuckelavee's horse-half snarled as it rose up to try and bite down at Jaune, however he rolled underneath it as he stabbed the Grimm's underside, dragging his blade underneath it, forming a deep cut within the S-Ranked Grimm. It howled in pain, before reaching one of its arms to punch Jaune, as the warrior rose his shield just in time to avoid the impact - but the force of the hit still sent him skidding back a bit. And suddenly the second claw came in to try and grapple him…

Pa-Ching!

Jaune glanced over, and recoiled slightly as Ruby suddenly stood right there - Crescent Rose pinning down the Nuckelavee's Grimm hand. She glanced back at Jaune, and smiled. "If we're gonna take it down, we're doing it together, alright?" She said.

The Paladin blinked, before he smirked "Fine by me, Rubes." He said, "You go high, I'll go low!"

"Welp, in for a penny!" Yang grinned, punching her fists. "I still got a fight in me! Let's do this!" She fired off her shotguns as she propelled herself forward as she delivered a gut punch into the Grimm.

Weiss groaned as she held up her blade, forming a Glyph at her feet. "Idiots..." she muttered before leaping forward, firing blasts of dust at the Grimm's feet, forming ice at his hooves and claws.

"Strength in numbers I guess..." Blake sighed as she readied Gambold Shroud, tossing it forward to get in close with the beast while it was distracted.

Pyrrha, seeing the others moving in to help Jaune and Ruby, drew her own weapon and joined in. Meanwhile, both Ren and Nora looked at each other as if having a silent conversation.

While they were still scared of the Nuckelavee, they knew this one was not the one that destroyed their villages, the one that killed Ren's parents. So, with slight hesitancy they moved in to help their would be teammates.

The fight was then a full-on eight-on-one melee as they attacked the Nuckelavee together, the S-Ranked Grimm roaring as it tried to fight the multiple enemies, but Weiss froze its legs in place, Blake wrapped the tether to Gambol Shroud around the mouth of the Horse-half of the beast, Pyrrha shoved her shield into one of its free hands, before pinning it down with Miló in its Javelin form, with Ruby doing the same for its other arm.

Nora then came from above, leaping up from the recoil of a Grenade blast, before switching Magnhild into hammer mode, and smashed the Grimm's horse head into the dirt, snapping its skull-like form into pieces. Meanwhile Ren ran up, and used his bladed guns to hack off its left arm, while Yang fired off a blast of pellets into its right arm, blasting it off.

And finally, Jaune landed on the back of the horse half, as he grabbed the Grimm by its humanoid head's horns and glared right into its eyes. "When you get to hell, tell e'm Jaune Arc and his friends send ya!" He screamed in its face, before spinning Crocea Mors in his hand, and in one final, fluid motion, sliced the Grimm's final head clean off.

With a few twitches and spasms, the headless human form of the Nuckelavee finally slumped over and began disintegrating into nothingness. As soon as the last of the Grimm had vanished, Jaune finally let out a sigh of relief, before collapsing on his knees.

"Ho. Ly. Crap, what a rush," he said, as he felt the adrenaline leave his body. "Everyone good?"

Everyone gave a thumbs up or some kind of approval, before Pyrrha began marching toward him, and Jaune noticed by the look on her face, that she wasn't happy.

He sighed irritatedly "Yes yes, I know I was being reckless," He groaned, "I know it was stupid, I know I could have gotten myself killed - but ya wanna know what's worse than that? Seeing one of _you_ getting killed, and me just standing around and doing _nothing_ to stop it!"

This actually caused Pyrrha to pause for a moment, blinking in surprise - as the others also stared at him.

"Look, when I chose to be a Huntsmen, I made myself a promise." He began, "I promised I wouldn't stand idly by when people were in trouble, when there was something I could do to stop it. And I promised no matter what, I'd keep my team, my friends _and_ my family safe. And if we didn't try to kill that… _thing_ , it could've tried to kill any one of you guys, and even if it did, what if it stayed here in the forest? It could've killed one of the other hopefuls before any major Huntsmen could come here to finish it off! Its what Huntsmen are suppose to do, right? Keep people safe?"

The others took in everything he just said. And he was not wrong.

"True Jaune," Pyrrha said kneeling down and reaching her hand out to him, "But that doesn't mean getting yourself killed over it. You have us to help you, and this experience will definitely help us in the future,"

Jaune blinked at that, and accepted Pyrrha's hand was pulled up...only to then get headlocked by said Champion, and get a hard noogie from her.

"Ow ow OW! Pyrrha that hurts! OW!"

"Next time, start with a plan, and let us know." Pyrrha said, both somewhat scoldingly and a bit playfully.

"Alright, Alright! _Alright!_ I get it!" Jaune yelped, waving his arms around trying to free himself. "Explain the plan next time! Let me go already!"

Deciding that she tortured him enough, and that everyone was watching the scene, she let him go, as he massaged his scalp.

"Damn!" he cursed, before his eyes blinked as he heard a familiar whimpering sound, and looked in the direction, and saw the Wolf Grimm trying to stand back up, "Oh crap!"

With that, he immediately began to rush over to the Grimm, who upon seeing him tried to limp away.

"Whoa whoa whoa there, hold on little guy," He said, "You ain't looking so hot." The rest of the group all ran after Jaune, and quickly noticed the small Grimm.

"Is that… a baby Beowolf?" Blake questioned with a raised brow.

"Awww, its actually kinda cute..." Ruby gushed a bit.

"Hey little guy," Jaune pulled out some more food from his pocket, holding it up to the Grimm. "Don't think we finished where we left off, huh?"

The Grimm turned to look at the offered food, and though quite hesitant began taking some bites. But then they noticed it's eyes widening, before a blue glow encompassed it.

"Whoa!" Jaune said in shock as he stepped back along with everyone else, as the Grimm's form began to change...it got slightly larger, it's tail disappeared, and instead of paws, they were replaced with human hands & feet.

When the glow began to die down, the two future teams were shocked that in the Grimm Wolf's place...was a boy their age, with dark shoulder length hair, rather pale skin, half lidded cobalt eyes, and the most striking feature, a pair of wolf ears.

Both teams all looked at him with wide, shocked eyes, some - like Weiss and Ren - already having their weapons out.

' _...this is deviating GREATLY from canon..._ ' Jaune thought to himself as he knelt forward. "Uhhh.. can you… uhh… understand me?" He asked.

"U-Uggghhh...what the fuck do you think, blondie?" the now Wolf Faunus said, as he tried to sit up, but only collapsed, "...Ahh, shit!"

Seeing that he was still in obvious pain, Jaune immediately went to help.

"Whoa! Easy there pal!" he said as he tried to calm him down, "Where did you come from?"

"...Dr...Drache," he managed to gasp out, making everyone blink and Jaune's eyes to widen.

"O...kay..." Jaune nodded, "So… mind explaining to us uhh… _why_ you were, ya know… a Grimm? And… how did you just transform like that?"

"...You and me both, pal." he said tiredly, "...all I remember is walking with my grandparents to an awesome new movie, and then...a bright flash, the feeling of like a thousand knives slicing through me...and then, nothing. Next thing I knew, I was jumping out of some tar pit in a place that could only be described as Dark Crystal hell, with other Grimm surrounding me...and seeing something that REALLY scared me beyond belief...and I knew I had to get away."

"I was not expecting this today..." Yang muttered.

"I don't think _any_ of us were expecting this, Yang..." Blake shook her head.

"So… what you're saying is you went to a movie, died, and somehow you were… reborn as a Grimm?" Jaune questioned, trying to make sense of that, as he glanced at the others. "Uh, this may be because I'm a bit uncultured, but has something like this-"

"No! Nothing like this has ever happened!" Weiss stated, wide eyes as she stared at the humanoid Grimm. "Grimm don't have souls! Hell, there's no such thing as a purely human type Grimm! This… this doesn't make any sense!"

"Well… there is still much about souls and Aura we… don't understand..." Pyrrha mused, still looking at the Grimm creature. "But this… this is something else entirely..."

"Should… should we get one of the professors?" Ruby asked, "I mean… t-they might-"

"No!" Jaune said quickly, causing her to jump. "Sorry… just not yet… if they find out about him now, assuming they don't already know, who knows what they'll do to him… a Grimm with Aura? I can only imagine what eggheads in Atlas would do if they discovered something like that."

"B-but he's-" Weiss began to say, but Jaune gave her a brief glare, shutting her up.

"He has a soul, so he's a living person." He reinforced. "So the last place I want him on is a lab table to be experimented on."

"But, what do we do with him?" Nora said, and Jaune sighed.

"Well for one...uh, we find him clothes," he said, and the girls blinked before they noticed one thing ...that the Grimm Faunus was naked.

Said Grimm noticed as well. "Yeeeeeah, don't wanna go around with my junk hanging out."

"Nope!" Yang said immediately as she covered Ruby's eyes, as the other ladies averted their eyes.

"Gah, c'mon Yang!" Ruby sighed, but Yang's hands did not move an inch.

"Be glad I carry my casual clothes with me in my pack," Jaune sighed, as he reached into his bag, pulling out a simple pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt. "Now, fingers crossed they actually _fit_ you, big guy."

"...why do you have extra clothes on you?" Weiss questioned.

"Well I wasn't going to stash my gear in a locker for someone to steal if I didn't get into the Academy." Jaune shrugged, tossing the man the clothes in question. "SIdes, I traveled light… well, relatively speaking at least."

 **"** I hope so, too," The now Grimm Faunus said, as he accepted the spare clothes, but as he looked at the shirt, the two teams noticed the narrowed eyes and the flattening of his ears as he turned the front of the shirt around.

"Really?" he said, and the girls blinked, including Ruby as she finally managed to pry Yang's fingers open, being careful not to actually look at him, saw the shirt and their reaction was obvious.

"Psh… w-what is that?!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing at the Pumpkin Pete hoodie, with the bunnie on the front and everything.

"What?" Jaune asked, "Its just one of my Hoodies, I've always had them!"

Ruby snorted slightly, a joyous expression on her face "I-Its got a cute little bunny on it!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah! Its Pumpkin Pete! Ya know, from the cereal?" He retorted.

"What did you do?!" Ruby laughed out, "Send in the boxtops for a prize?!"

"Yeah, like fifty for the first one, and another for a spare!" Jaune retorted, causing Ruby to pause…

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

And she was not alone as Yang and Nora laughed with her, like some certain sisters. Pyrrha, though she was laughing, had her hand on her mouth as she giggled, while Blake was also trying to contain her laughter.

Weiss looked at Jaune, as one of her opal eyes twitched.

"Are you mentally eight years old, or something?" she rhetorically asked.

"I'm Seventeen and I just like to support my favorite cereal brand!" Jaune exclaimed. "Plus its _absurdly_ comfortable, and perfect for when fall and winter seasons come around." He then turned to the Grimm-turned-human. "So just man up, or Grimm up and just put the damn thing on - I expect that thing back once we get you your own set of clothes."

The Grimm turned human looked at the shirt again, and sighed irritably, before putting it on.

"Just note, that I will not forget this humiliation," he growled before putting the other articles of clothing on, and then placed on the boots before he stood up. "Right, let's get going befoorrre... Uh-oh,"

Jaune, and the others, when they finally stopped laughing, all blinked when he said that. "What?"

The Grimm Faunus pointed behind him. The eight all followed his finger…

"Well, seems like we have a bit of a trespasser in the forest," Headmaster Ozpin said, standing just a few yards away, calmly looking at them all with his mug of coffee in hand, as he casually took a sip from it.

' _...Fuuuuuuck._ ' Jaune cursed mentally, before clearing his throat. "Uhhhh… y-yeah, we… ran into him on the way to the cliff, so we… well, can't exactly _leave_ him here, right?" Jaune said, chuckling slightly.

Ozpin raised a brow as Professor Goodwitch appeared behind.

"True... of course, there is one little problem with that," he said, making both Jaune and the Newcomer blink.

"And that will be...?"

Ozpin only signaled for Glynda to come forward and hold up the large scroll, in which all of their eyes widened when they saw the entire battle they just had...and videos of the Grimm Faunus in his wolf form... And transformation...

"...you know professor, no one likes a stalker." Jaune deadpanned.

"In my line of work Mr. Arc, it pays to be extra careful." Ozpin retorted, before his gaze returned to the Grimm. "So… I admit, I wasn't expecting _this_ for our first years…. "

The man's eyes narrowed at him "If you think you're gonna turn me into a goddamned lab experiment-" he growled, before Ozpin rose his hand.

"No… I do not believe there will be any need for that." He stated - a statement which caused everyone, including the Grimm-man, to blink.

"W-what?" Weiss muttered in shock.

"As tempting an offer to do exactly what he fears we'd do may be, Mr. Arc makes a good point." Ozpin stated, "He has Aura, therefore he has a soul. Therefore we should treat him no differently than we would treat any other student within the academy."

"...Student?" The man questioned, with a raised brow.

"Why yes… Mr. Volk." Ozpin stated, "And, congratulations to you all for passing your initiation assignment. Once you return to Beacon, your teams shall be officially assigned."

"...Volk?" The Grimm questioned.

"Why yes, that _is_ your name, is it not, Schwarze Volk?" The Headmaster asked with a smirk, "Sometimes an individual passes before forming a proper team, happens from time to time - we will simply have to assign you to a pre-existing team. I'm sure you will feel right at home… its a better deal than being expelled and going out on your own, is it not?"

The now named Schwarze didn't say anything for a minute, before shaking his head.

"No...no it's not a bad deal after all... Professor," Schwarze, which caused Ozpin to nod.

"Good. Now...shall we head back to the school, children?" he said as he about faced and walked back to the Academy with Glynda behind, leaving two teams of 4 and a Grimm Wolf Faunus standing there stumped.

Schwarze was the one who spoke out what was on everyone's minds.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"I think you just got drafted into the Huntsmen Academy, buddy." Jaune muttered, before he sighed. "Well… that takes care of… _several_ problems at least..."

"Yeah...," Ruby said, before perking up, "Well, come on everyone, let's get back to school and see how we did!"

"Ditto to that,"

 **"** Mm-hm, **"**

"Yes, let's"

With varying degrees of agreement, the two teams plus one thus began their trek up toward the school. All the while, the two teachers have entered into a conversation about their new _student._

"...I'm still not sure if this is the best course of action, Professor..." Glynda muttered, worriedly as the students walked off. "He doesn't _seem_ hostile, sure but… if he really is… or _was_ a Grimm, what if-"

"We will not learn anything new about him by strapping him down to a lab table and poking and prodding him with probes and scalpels, Glynda." Ozpin said, shaking his head. "This requires a far more… _delicate_ touch… and the things we could learn from him… I believe could prove to be the key to _everything_ we've been trying to achieve..."

Glynda let out a tired sigh "I… have my doubts, but… I trust you with this, Ozpin." She relented. "But I _will_ keep a close eye on him..."

"As will I, Glynda." The Professor nodded, "I think though it is safe to say… this will be an _exceedingly_ interesting year at Beacon."

* * *

When they returned to Beacon, the ceremony of assigning teams went on just as it did with the series as far as Jaune knew - RWBY became RWBY, JNPR became JNPR and so on. No complications, save for of course their new… _friend_.

"So… until Ozpin assigns me a team… he says I should hunker up with… you guys..." Schwarze muttered, now wearing a pair of black cargo pants, with black thigh high boots, along with a dark brown shirt, and finally a green cargo jacket over it. "...sorry..."

"Well, can't be helped." Jaune shrugged, while Pyrrha nodded in agreement, as did Nora and Ren. "You can use my bed for the night - I'll sleep on the couch."

Schwarze looked at the said couch and went into a thinking pose for a second.

"Hmm, hold on a sec," he said as he walked over to examine the future and then pulled off the cushions, "Whoa, I think Ozpin already prepared for this kind of situation. This couch is a sofa bed!"

"No way!" Nora shouted, practically leaping on top of it. "Dibs! I call dibs on this! Dibs! See? Did it again! Dibs!"

"Perhaps Schwarze should, since he _is_ our guest." Ren added politely.

"If he wants to, I say its fine." Jaune shrugged, glancing at Nora. "Sorry Nora."

Nora seemed to pout slightly, grumbling about 'dibs' before walking to her bed and crashing onto it. And not even two seconds passed before she started snoring loudly.

Ren sighed, as he pulled out what looked like three sets of earplugs. "Trust me, you'll need these." He said, glancing at Schwarze. "Sorry, I… only have three pairs..."

"I got my own," Jaune said, pulling out a set of noise-cancelling headphones. "When you sleep in a house with seven sisters who snore, you learn to adapt."

"Thanks," Schwarze nodded, taking one of the sets and plugging them into his ears. "Well… I guess… goodnight..."

"Sleep tight wolfman," Jaune smiled, "Gonna need it for tomorrow..."

Schwarze nodded as he pulled out the sofa bed, and grabbing a few extra cover sheets and a pillow, he crawled right into bed. Ren and Pyrrha following suit in their own respective beds, with Jaune hopping into his own as well.

Before he turned off the light, Jaune looked out the window, looking at the shattered moon above. ' _Things are already changing from the way its suppose to be..._ ' he thought, glancing at Schwarze for a moment. ' _But why? I couldn't have changed that much already… have I?_ '

He then sighed, turning off the lights. ' _Worry about that tomorrow,_ ' he thought, getting into bed. ' _For now… I need some fucking sleep..._ '

With Schwarze, he was having similar thoughts.

 _'Wow, I would definitely make quite the butterfly effect after today,'_ he said, _'Hopefully it'll be good, rather than bad.'_

He then looked at the sleeping Jaune. Knowing that despite having the same sort of mannerisms as the Jaune Arc he knew...there were VERY glaring examples of him being different from _the_ Jaune Arc.

One, the Armor looked better than canon.

Two, this Jaune had WAY more confidence than the whiny ass end joke that Jaune was.

And Three, from what he saw in the battle, this Jaune Arc was actually a capable fighter at the start. A wider array of weapons and gear, and now he had a totally different Semblance - assuming his 'aura amplifier' ability from Volume 5 was connected to his Semblance.

On one hand Schwarze was kinda glad about the changes - it made Jaune more reliable in combat, and he wouldn't have to babysit him or man him up. But on the other hand… this just made him worry all the more about _what else_ could have changed…

He sighed, knowing thinking about it wasn't going to help matters...so, he just closed his eyes and went to sleep. Unaware of the glowing Seer Grimm outside the window as it floated away.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile - Drache_**

* * *

"So...he's in Beacon," Salem said with a flat tone as she looked at Watts, "And from what my Seers observed, he has the ability to transform into a human form,"

"Hmmm… an ability no other Grimm has demonstrated..." Watts mused. "...should we inform our assets in Vale to… _acquire_ him?"

"...no." Salem shook her head. "He's out of our reach… for now. Cinder must focus on the plan, but if he _does_ interfere with it, we will deal with it accordingly. Simply send Cinder a message to be… _wary_ of the Huntsman named… Schwarze Volk."

"Of course, your grace." Watts bowed, before turning around and leaving Salem alone. The witch of the Grimm stared back up towards the moon, eyes narrowed slightly as she mused on this… development.

' _Aura doesn't simply manifest into Grimm like that..._ ' she mused, ' _Something is shifting… but what?_ '


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry for the delay for this chapter, but I've been working on other things - also I was waiting for Volume 6 fo RWBY to come to an end so I can plan the rest of this story around the information of Volume 1-6 in full. Now that its over I can continue where I left off.**

* * *

 **Time: The Next Morning**

 **Location: Beacon Academy**

* * *

Schwarze was sleeping in the rather comfortable sofa bed... when a loud whistle sounded from the room across the hall...and thanks to his sensitive ears, it felt like he heard it right next to him.

"AAAGGGHHH!"

*BAM*

"...oooowwww...,"

"Gooood morning Team RWBY!"

Jaune slowly began to rise up out of bed, scratching his head as he pulled out his earplugs. "Anyone hear something?" He questioned, before he saw Schwarze on the ground. "The hell happened to you?"

"Don't… ask..." The Grimm-turned-faunus growled, as he got off the floor slowly. "I'm gonna smash that whistle...,"

Jaune blinked and remembered that this scene from the show, and immediately went to wake everyone up. Of course, he didn't need to, as the rest of Team JNPR woke up themselves.

"Good morning, team!" Nora exclaimed as she poked her head from out of the girls side of their dorms. "Ren! You know what to do!"

"Already on it," Ren said, who was already in his school uniform… only with an apron that said 'Don't kiss the cook' on as he used pulled out pancake mix as he left the room to get to the kitchen.

"Morning ya'll..." Jaune yawned as he got out of bed, and began to stretch a bit before doing his own morning routine - beginning to do a series of push-ups.

"Morning," Pyrrha said, as she stepped out after Nora - wiping away the sleepiness from her eyes. After that she looked over at Schwarze, dressed in his own school uniform, who was rubbing his head to alleviate the headache he got from landing headfirst from his jumpscare.

"Are you okay, Schwarze?" she asked, and said Grimm Faunus just nodded.

"Yeah...nothing serious, just landed on my head after falling out of the bed," he grumbled, before shaking his head, before pulling out the schedule, "Okay, our first class is nine o'clock, and it is now...," he looked at the said clock and saw the hour hand precisely between nine and eight, and the minute hand on 6. "...eight thirty, so we have a half hour to get there."

"Good, enough time for breakfast and a shower." Jaune said, before finishing his push-ups.

"It says here our first class is with..." Pyrrha mused as she looked at the schedule. "...Professor Peter Port… hmm, I've heard a few things about him back in Mistral..."

"Like?" Jaune asked as he grabbed his uniform, heading for the bathroom.

"Well, I've heard he's among the more… _lecturing_ of teachers here," Pyrrha said with a small chuckle. "Kinda of the opposite of Professor Oobleck from what I've heard."

Schwarze mentally groaned, ' _Oh great, I have to endure the mental torture of listening to Port's over exaggerated stories, while trying to keep up with the coffee speed demon,'_ he thought while sighing, "Any teachers we should keep an eye out, for... _specific_ reasons?"

All of Team JNPR blinked at, and Schwarze pointed to his wolf ears, with one of them twitching, "Who else have animal parts like me?" he rhetorically asked.

They all gave an 'oh' of realization, seeing that he was a Faunus now.

"Hmmmm..." Pyrrha mused as she looked through the list. "Well, it doesn't actually say who's human or a Faunus, I don't see why they'd include it to begin with… " she then smiled "B-but, I am sure there are! No reason for there _not_ to be anyways, there are plenty of famous Faunus Huntsmen and Huntresses afterall."

Schwarze sighed at that. It wasn't what he ACTUALLY meant, but...

"Well, as long as there's no racist scumbags among the staff in this school, the better my stay here will be. Just glad I'm not in Atlas," he said, mentally shivering at the thought of living in the one kingdom where the worst Anti-Faunus Racism was, provided of course he wasn't killed by the army first. And not to mention the worst corporate douchebag in the history of corporate douchebags lived there as well, along with his sociopathic little shit of a son.

"Well to be fair, the situation in Atlas tends to get over exaggerated thanks to SDC." Jaune informed, "Sure its bad when you live in areas where SDC assets are built or mined, but the actual Academy of Atlas I've heard some positive things about… well, aside from their overly-militaristic mindset, but that's just my opinion."

"He's right," Pyrrha nodded, "I've visited Atlas before, while I admit there are a… _larger than desired_ amount of bad apples there, most students and teachers have good heads on their shoulders. They have a rather Vacuoan look on things - if you're willing to fight for the greater cause of Atlas and its people, you're more than welcome there… of course bigots are bound to slip through the cracks in even the best of systems."

"Like the High-Class Aristocrats...," Schwarze put in, "...I know, they're mostly in the minority, but it's still a big minority."

"You seem to have a grudge against aristocrats," Ren said, "You had trouble with them back in your old life?"

Schwarze sighed at that, "Oh you have NO idea how bad many Aristocrats were...,"

"Preaching to the choir..." Jaune muttered to himself silently, before a very… _delicious_ smell worked its way into the room. "*Sniff sniff*...I smell..."

"FINALLY!" Nora shouted, practically busting out of the bathroom - fully clothed mind you - and made a beeline out of the bedroom and into the connected living room/kitchen next door. "PANCAAAAAKEESS!"

The three in the bedroom all blinked, before looking at Ren - who was still standing in the door, who sighed before he shrugged. "Get use to it." He said.

The other three inhabitants of the room sighed before they made their way to the kitchen...and hopefully get a chance to eat a pancake before the hammer wielder ate them all.

* * *

Ozpin sipped on his morning coffee, as he looked at the list of candidate teams for Schwarze, Glynda right beside him as they walked through the courtyard.

"Well, from the screening of all pre-existing teams, the only viable options with open positions are Team ASH, and Team SBL...Sadly, the latter is currently still dealing with the loss of Ebony Blade last year...and won't accept any new members," Said Glynda, while sighing somberly at the memory of said team's mission gone wrong.

"Hmmm… " Ozpin mused, as he pulled up the file on Team ASH. Three faces appeared on the screen before him and Glynda. "And Team ASH?"

"Well, Echo Tumaros left on good terms with the team when he was recalled to Mistral due to family matters and to finish his studies at Haven, closer to home." Glynda nodded, "Hmm… I don't think they'd be _too_ opposed to bringing Schwarze in… _assuming_ they get along..."

Ozpin hummed at that. "I'll talk to them later this afternoon," he said, "I'll fill them in on half the truth, while leaving out Schwarze's... other half,"

Glynda looked at him with a frown, "Oz, I know you want to give him a chance, but if they find out what he is-,"

"I'm well aware of the outcome Glynda," the Headmaster said, "But, I know that once Team ASH bond with him, and he vice versa, I'm certain they'll accept him for him, not for what he is,"

The Professor sighed at that, before switching to a different part of the matter concerning their Wolf Grimm Faunus.

"And what about the others? How do you think James will react to this?" she queried in concern, considering her old flame and the Headmaster of Atlas, General James Ironwood.

" _That_ is why we must keep this at a need-to-know basis," Ozpin reinforced, "I trust James… but you know as well as _I_ do that he has a habit of acting before thinking."

Glynda sighed "You know he has a knack on telling when you're hiding something, Professor..."

"Well then I just need to perfect my poker face then," Ozpin retorted with a small smirk.

The sudden sound of repeating footsteps got their attention as the two Professors looked up and spotted none other than Teams RWBY and JNPR, along with the said topic of their conversation, as they ran from their Dorm to their first class.

"How the hell did we have only five minutes left on the clock!?" shouted Schwarze, "I blame you for this, Arc!"

"It's not my fault!" Jaune retorted, "Nora kept eating every serving of Pancakes Ren made, and drank all the syrup!"

"Not my fault no one packed any extra bottles!" Nora exclaimed, a half-eaten Pancake in her mouth as she swallowed it up while running.

"If we're late, I'm blaming you!" Jaune shouted, as they double-timed it to their classroom - all while the two professors watched calmly, Ozpin simply drinking his coffee and Glynda keeping an eye on her watch.

* * *

"Monsters! _Deeeemons_... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as **prey**! Ha-ha!"

Jaune simply rested his head in his palm as he watched Professor Port's lecture with little interest. It was _absurdly_ boring so far… the only thing that was really keeping him awake was that he just kept reminding himself that Port still sounded like Ryan Haywood from RT's Achievement Hunter, and that made him chuckle every now and then.

Teams JNPR, RWBY and Schwarze were all sitting in the class, all in various states of attention. Some like Weiss, Blake, Ren and Pyrrha taking the most attention or taking notes, while others like Ruby, Yang and Nora were either subtly entertaining themselves, or in Nora's case… well the soft snoring was _very_ informative.

With Schwarze, he was busy trying to keep himself from banging his head on the desk, while keeping a an eye out for a certain bully.

He didn't have to look far as he spotted said prick as he scanned around looking for his next victim.

Schwarze's eyes narrowed slightly, promising himself to give Cardin a real _humbling_ he'll never forget. He returned his attention to the class, not noticing that the said Winchester was now looking at him.

"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy!" Port continued as he began to pace. "Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens-"

"Menagerie."

The Professor paused as he glanced up at the one who spoke - who was none other than Jaune. "Pardon, Mr. Arc?"

"You forgot Menagerie." He pointed out, "Even if its not officially a Kingdom, the Faunus pretty much own the whole island… even if most of it is filled with some of the worst Grimm in Remnant, but the fact that they've been able to make out a home there with what resources they have is an amazing feat in itself. In fact you gotta respect them for constantly fighting those beasts day in and day out."

"Of course, they're animals…" Cardin muttered.

"No one asked you, nimrod." Jaune shot back, before turning to Port. "Sorry Professor."

"Hm..." The Professor hummed. "Indeed! Thank you for reminding me, Mr. Arc, after all how could we _ever_ forget the brave men and women who have turned that whole island into their homeland?"

Jaune nodded, as Blake glanced in his direction and gave him a small smile of appreciation, as did Pyrrha who nodded. Cardin however just growled, shooting a glare at Jaune.

"Anyways, as I was saying, the Kingdoms and Menagerie are safe havens…." The professor went on with the rest of his lecture as Jaune tried to just keep his eyes open and awaited for Weiss's moment to come up - not expecting much of anything else to come from today. It wasn't _too_ difficult… he just kept watching as Ruby did her… well… _thing_.

And he didn't have to wait long for the volcano that is Mount Schnee to blow.

"...So, who among you believes has all these traits of being a Huntsman," as soon as Port said, Weiss' hand to shoot straight up.

"I do, sir!" she announced, a scowl on her face, which Jaune had to admit, looked a little more intimidating in real life.

 _'And thar she blows!'_ he thought, as he watched as Weiss went into another room to dress in her Huntress gear before coming back, while Port had brought in a cage containing the Boarbatusk.

Jaune watched as the rest of Team RWBY cheered her on, but when the said leader did, the SDC heiress snapped at her. Jaune actually sighed in disappointment at this early version of Weiss.

' _At least she least she learns how to cooperate with her better later,'_ he thought, before Port walked over with his trusty Blunderbuss.

"Alright! Let the match… Begin!" the Professor announced, using his own weapon to slice open the cage, revealing the Boarbatusk inside as it charged out its first attack - which Weiss easily dodged with a quick twirl.

Jaune watched the duel, and overall nothing happened in it that went off of 'script' per say. Ruby tried cheering her on and giving advice, though Weiss tells her to shut up, and eventually she kills the Boarbatusk just like in the show.

"Bravo! Braa-vo!" Peter nodded. "It appears we are _indeed_ in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!"

Jaune frowned as he saw Ruby look very sad as Weiss shot her a glare. He shook his head at that ' _Just hang in there, Rubes..._ ' he thought, ' _She'll get better..._ '

"Now, before we end the class...," Port said, causing Jaune to blink, "I wish to make a quick note regarding your team and JNPR. I watched the video detailing your Team's and Team JNPR's battle against one of the most feared Grimm that ever walked the face of Remnant - the Nuckelavee."

The other students in the class all made hushed murmurs about that, as Jaune simply rose his brow at this. Before he could wonder where the professor was going with this, he pressed a button, as a screen activated on his desk, which quickly showed the image of the Nuckelavee itself, just as it unleashed one of its deafening roars - a sound that caught most of the students by surprise, causing them to scream in fear for a moment.

The video went on to show Jaune attacking the Nuckelavee himself before RWBY and the rest of JNPR jumped in, and together defeating it. "Now, while I applaud your efforts to defeat an S-Rank Grimm together - even if its a younger version - this should serve as a lesson to _all_ of you, not just RWBY and JNPR."

Port turned around, as he pointed at the beast itself just before Jaune sliced its head off as the video stopped. "This beast, and others like it, are _extremely dangerous_ , far more lethal than a run-in-the-mill Beowolf, or even an Ursa, Nevermore or Deathstalker. _If_ any of you ever comes into battle with creatures such as this again, _never_ take it on alone. Your best strength is teamwork and coordination against such strong opponents. And as JNPR and RWBY demonstrated, a group coordinating together can take down some of the mightiest of foes… I have lost far too many friends _and_ students to hot heads who focus more on glory over survival. No Huntsmen or Huntress is good to the Kingdoms dead, which is why it is also a team leader's responsibility to absorb the tactical situation any of his or her teammates are in, and provide tactical advice to their team to assure victory - much like what Miss Rose was doing, even if on the 'side-lines' as it were."

Ruby blinked, perking up at that - though Jaune rose his eyebrow slightly. That was a… _noticeable_ shift from what he remembered from the show, since he was suppose to just call class quits and go onto the next scene with Ruby and Weiss. ' _Things are changing faster..._ ' he mused, scratching his chin. ' _It's small things, sure, but still..._ '

"Anyways, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today." The Professor concluded. "Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay _vigilant_! Class dismissed!"

As everyone began leaving the classroom, both Jaune and Schwarze were both thinking on Port's revealing of the Nuckelavee. Wondering if Ozpin had the professor show them the video as a way of having the students act more cautiously.

Before they could muse further, they heard the argument between Ruby and Weiss, as the former tried to understand what her partner's problem was. Of course, they weren't the only ones as they soon spotted Ozpin not far away.

"...wow..." Nora muttered, "That… was messy..."

"Weiss is… just impatient..." Pyrrha shook her head. "Its only the first day, she shouldn't expect so much from Ruby so quickly..."

"Yeah..." Jaune muttered, scratching his chin. "...I'll catch up with you guys for next class… "

"Where are you going?" Ren asked.

"Well, I'm gonna see if I can warm the Ice Sprite's cold heart just a bit for Ruby," Jaune retorted with a smirk. "Can't hurt to try, even if they're on a different team."

"You know she's probably just gonna chew you out too, right?" Schwarze said with a deadpan tone, while the blonde paladin just shrugged.

"She might, but I've endured worse," he said, and went to follow the Ice Queen, while Ozpin talked to Ruby.

Schwarze sighed and turned to the rest, "Well, since lunch is around the corner, how about we get something," he said, and the rest of JNPR followed Schwarze's example and followed him.

With Jaune, he had just caught up with Weiss, as he caught up with her.

"Whoa, hey! Mount Schnee, hold up!" he shouted, prompted Weiss to stop, look, and give the Arc a nasty glare.

"Geesh! Can you tone down the glares a bit, Snow Sprite?" Jaune said, with a little bit of humor.

"The last person I want to see right now is _you_ , Arc." She growled. "I want to talk to the professor."

"About what?"

"About Ozpin making a big mistake!" She exclaimed, " _I_ should be in charge, anyone except that… that _child_! I said I'd work with her, but not with _her_ in charge! She's childish and-and immature!"

"Gods Weiss, she's _fifteen years old_ ," Jaune groaned, "Of course she'll be a bit childish."

"Exactly!" Weiss shouted, "Why should someone younger than _me_ be ordering a whole team of Huntsmen around?"

The Reincarnated young man sighed "Weiss… tell me this," He said, leaning against the rails. "What makes you think that you should lead RWBY over Ruby?"

"I've _studied_ ," Weiss stated, "I've trained my whole life for this, I've read up on strategies, combat styles-"

"There is more to being a leader than book smarts and tactics, Weiss." Jaune shook his head. "You wanna know what the single, most important feature a Leader _must_ have?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "What might _that_ be?"

"Trust."

"Trust?" Weiss questioned, "What do you mean by that?! You think they don't trust me?!"

"Would you?" Jaune questioned, but before she could speak he rose his hand. "Put yourself in their shoes - not Ruby, but Blake and Yang. You've known them for only a few days now, and so far most of your time with them has you arguing with them, yelling, screaming and… excuse my Mistralian, but being a _bitch_. You're not building any relationships with anyone… meanwhile Ruby is Yang's _sister_ , so immediately there is a level of trust that very few could hope to match - and Ruby is actually becoming acquainted with Blake - getting to know her likes, dislikes, hobbies and all that."

"So Weiss, who do you think Blake and Yang would find more trustworthy?" He continued, "The young woman whose actually going out of her own way to learn about her teammates, or the one that is constantly telling them what to do, how to do it, and yelling and complaining at them all the time? Would _you_ follow someone like that who _constantly_ tells you what to do, with no say from yourself?"

Weiss stopped before she could retort, as her eyes widened at that. The question he just asked reminding her of why she came to Beacon in the first place...not only to clear her family name, but to mostly get away from her... _family_ problems. Specifically, her over domineering father, and her less than stellar younger brother, who was following more and more in their father's footsteps, and...disturbingly, possibly even surpassing him in ego and ruthlessness.

The more she thought on what Jaune said, the more she began to realize how much she was acting like him, just as he was toward her, her big sister, and their mother. And the thought of that scared her to no end.

Jaune, after seeing the look on her face, gave a sigh as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Look, Weiss… I'm not naive enough to think that your life under your father's watch was all sunshine and rainbows 'cause he had all the money he could need and then some." He began, "But you need to remind yourself that your story isn't set in stone yet. You are _not_ your father, _you_ are Weiss Schnee, and you have the power to forge your own destiny if you so choose. So don't let your past determine your future, and just… _be yourself_. Stop acting like you're inherently better than everyone else, and just… go down to their level to see a different perspective… just like your Grandfather did when he began _his_ journey."

Weiss was silent for a moment, before she closed her eyes and let out a soft chuckle. "You sound a _lot_ more mature than you act sometimes..." she muttered.

"It's what I do," Jaune Shrugged with a small smirk, "I eat and I know things,"

Weiss blinked at that, but before she could, he just chuckled.

"Trust me, don't ask where I learned that," he said, before he turned around and left the heiress there, as he gave a backward wave.

"You know, of all the first years I've known...," Weiss startlingly turned around and spotted none other than Port walking up to her, and although it hidden by the moustache, she could make out a hint of a smile, "...I've not seen one as insightful as one as Mr. Arc,"

Weiss blinked twice before looking at the Arc son again as he turned around a corner.

"And he is right, young Schnee. You must follow your path, just like Nicholas had done," he said, and Weiss and looked at him in surprise.

"You...?," she began to ask, before he gave a jolly laugh.

"Ah… I met your grandfather before he stepped down from SDC _multiple_ times," He said, "He was a wise, strong man to the very end… and a dear friend..."

The professor let out a long, tired sigh. "Excuse me for saying this Miss Schnee, but if your Grandfather lived to see what your father had done to his company, he'd be rolling in his grave… but as Mr. Arc said so accurately, it is not the past you should dwell on, it should be your _own_ future, because _that_ is still within _everyone's_ power to change."

He then gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Now, how about you go back to your team and make up with Miss Rose," he advised, "Let her know that there are no hard feelings,"

With that, he turned around and left Weiss where she was and began reflecting on his and Jaune's words, till she let out and began walking towards the cafeteria.

* * *

 **An Hour Later**

 **Ozpin's Office**

* * *

"I know this is a lot to take in," Ozpin said as he looked at the three students of Team ASH, "But rest assured, with you three guiding him, I know he would make a valued member of your team,"

The first was a young woman, a year older than Pyrrha, who had Amethyst colored eyes, and dark chocolate brown hair tied into a low ponytail with a fringe just over her brow that was dyed the same color as her eyes. Wearing a black leather jacket over a matching, sleeveless gothic hood that was currently down, draped behind her back. She had a pair of black pants, and shin-high heeled boots.

The next was another woman, this one with long shoulder-length silver hair, and her Faunus heritage made clear from the two wolf-like ears emerging from the top of her head. Her eyes were also a matching silver, just like her hair. Wearing a fur coat with a puffy hood that was lowered, with a set of blue jeans, black boots and a pair of gauntlets over either of her arms.

And finally was a human male, his hair was a short, crew cut greyish color, and while he had a small mask over his eyes it was easy to see his eyes were a deep red in color. He too had a hooded jacket on his person, colored in a grey, black and white camo scheme, and kept zipped up. And he too had a simple pair of pants of a matching color to his jacket, and black boots. Though around his right eye there looked to be a faint scarring around that area of his face that his mask seemed to try to cover - albeit barely.

"So… you're sticking a first year onto our team?" the sole male of the group questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Kogeta, he was the odd man out and didn't manage to find a partner nor a team...," Ozpin clarified, "...so, we decided it was best to place him in a pre-existing team, which of course, means you, since you three have only been here for a year, and are more closer to his age, and most teams _do_ require a 4-man team. Therefore this benefits everyone in the long run."

"Hmmmm..." the leading woman, Ametista Spada, hummed in thought. "...well, if he's willing, I don't see a reason why we can't give him a chance at least… what's his level of experience?"

"Limited, but he has faced his fair share of trouble." The Headmaster informed, "From what we've seen, he was able to evade the Nuckelavee that was in the Emerald Forest for quite some time until JNPR and RWBY took it down."

"Any footage we could see?" Ametista asked, but Ozpin shook his head.

"Unfortunately, footage with him in it was corrupted when the cameras in his area were destroyed," he informed. "But having managed to watch them live before they were corrupted, I can assure you that there is something… _special_ with this young man..."

"Well… if he was able to evade something like that for so long… there has to be _something_ good about him..." the young wolf Faunus girl, Silber Zwilling commented.

"True..." Hagane Kogeta muttered, before turning to Ametista "Your call, boss - we're good either way."

"May as well," Ametista shrugged, "At least we'll still be team ASH with an extra S."

Ozpin smiled softly as he nodded.

"Good, I'll call him up here so that he could meet you all," he said, "Of course, you'll have to find him some equipment, and help with the expenses, since he... _lost_ his, along with any Lien he had,"

Ametista blinked at that, before sighing, guessing that the Nuckelavee may've destroyed it.

"Well, after we get acquainted with him, we'll go to the 7th Heaven and see if the old man could whip up something for him," she said, making Ozpin stiffen a bit at the name.

"Why must you _insist_ going there?" Ozpin groaned, as Ametista just smirked.

"Aside from the fact he's one of the best weapon smiths in Vale?" She questioned, "He does a good job, we'll pay the old man a visit and see what he can whip up for him."

"That may be true, but he and I have had made many... _disagreements_ in the past," Ozpin said, as memories of a time long past entered his mind before he shook them away.

"We know about his grudge with you Professor, but he's never turned away any huntsmen or huntress in training," Silber said, "Like he told us once: 'I may hate that cocoa sucking screwup's guts, but I'm not gonna let any kid he teaches go out there in the wild with half-ass made weaponry',"

Ozpin sighed at that, "...True," he relented, "Still, its his - and your - choice I suppose… just make sure you give him a _fair_ chance, you three."

"Well, we'll see about that." Hagane shrugged, as the team turned to leave. "He better be as good as you say he is, though… "

The three walked to the elevator and as the door closed, Ozpin let out a breath.

"That makes two of us...," he said before turning toward the window, showing a perfect view of the city of Vale in the distance, "...I hope someday you and I will one day bury the hatchet...old friend,"

* * *

 **Beacon Cafeteria**

* * *

"Finally! A good burger!" Schwarze said, not bothering to hide his glee as he chomped down on a cheeseburger.

"Whoa! Easy there boy!" Yang said warningly, but with a little bit of mirth, "You might choke yourself to death!"

"I have not eaten _anything_ in the past several weeks! I _NEED_ this!" Schwarze exclaimed as he stuffed his face full of another burger.

This was the sight Jaune walked in on as he entered the cafeteria, while various other students were eating, he quickly spotted the more notable of the teams - RWBY and the rest of JNPR, gathered around Schwarze as he was wolfing down several burgers on his plate.

He raised a brow at this as he arrived at the table. "Sooooo...what did I miss?" he asked, and Pyrrha giggled.

"Not much, just Schwarze practically cleaning out almost all the cheeseburgers in the lunchline, before me, Yang, and Nora managed to pull him away, before the chefs could have a heart attack!" she said, and she turned to the Wolf/Grimm Faunus as he finished his last burger and gave a content sigh, before moving the plate back and placing his head on the table before the sound of soft snoring was heard.

Jaune shook his head while the girls all giggled at his expense.

"Tired _and_ hungry...he must've ran non-stop from Drache to be like that," Blake said, while began to rub his back a little.

"Awww, he's all tuckered out..." Ruby 'awwed', as she eyed his fox ears… and couldn't help herself as she started petting the area between his ears. The reaction she got was immediate as Schwarze started making grunting sounds, while his foot was making not so subtle twitches.

"Huh, what do you know? Guess he has the same mannerisms some dogs do when they get lovins," said Jaune, before turning to Blake, "You think all Faunus have those attributes?"

The said Cat Faunus in hiding only shrugged, "Sometimes they do," he said while mentally, ' _In truth, they all do,'_

Jaune knew that Blake was trying to keep her Faunus identity a secret, so left it at that, while still watching Ruby, and now Nora giving some pampering to Schwarze, more specifically, his ears. He just smirked as he pulled out his scroll and snapped a few pictures of the two as they petted and scratched his ears. "Sweet delicious blackmail..." he muttered to himself, before sitting down.

"So… how'd the talk with Weiss go?" Pyrrha whispered over to Jaune.

"Well… only time will tell," Jaune shrugged, "But I think i made a dent in that frozen heart of hers."

Pyrrha hummed at that, as she nodded.

" _Attention students._ " Came Goodwitch's voice, _"Will Schwarze Volk, please report to the Headmaster's office please. I repeat, will Schwarze Volk report to the Headmaster's office."_

An irritated groan was heard as Schwarze lifted his head, as Ruby and Nora stopped before he caught them rubbing his ears.

"One thing I didn't miss about school...damn PA announcements," he grumbled, before he stood up, "Well, wish me luck, ladies and gents."

"Good luck, hopefully you're put on a good team." Jaune said, giving him a short salute.

Schwarze just gave one in return as he turned to leave.

"Wonder what his team will look like..." Jaune mused out loud.

"Hopefully, they're friendly," Ruby said, while looking worried for their new friend, "I just hope they'll give him a chance if they found about his...well, you know,"

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Ruby," said Yang patting her on the shoulder, "I doubt Ozpin would put him with a team of jerks."

"AAGGHH!"

The sudden yelp got their attention as they turn and Jaune narrowed his eyes at what he was seeing...a fellow first year, like him, his team, and Team RWBY, who had just fallen to the ground, and was being laughed at, by none other than Cardin, and his goon squad.

"Hey, watch where you're going."

"I-I'm sorry, I-"

"You gotta do better than sorry, punk!"

*SMACK*

"Agh!"

Jaune's eye twitched in annoyance as he stood up from his chair. "Excuse me for a moment, guys..." he muttered, as he turned and stepped up towards Cardin.

The Bully in question held up the student by the cuff of his shirt, ready to sock another punch into his face until he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Excuse me," he growled and glanced back to see Jaune standing there. "This is a no bullying zone. Here's your ticket, and here's your _FINE!_ " And with that Jaune delivered a kick right into Cardin's face, causing him to let go of the bullied student as he flew back and crashed into a table - his face landing right into a cream pie.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, as they turned to the commotion, while Jaune helped up the bullied student.

"You okay, buddy?" he asked, and the student nodded in response. Jaune turned back, and saw Cardin's team looking at their boss with looks of shock on their faces. He then saw Cardin as he slowly got up, the cream from the pie dripping off his face and on his school uniform. When he finally stood up to his full height he turned and Jaune saw his eyes turn into a death glare, which was made humorous, due to said food on his face.

"You are so dead, Arc!"

"Actually, I'm hungry - got any more pie?" Jaune suggested with a shrug. This was the boiling point for Cardin, who roared as he charged at Jaune - but he simply side-stepped, leaving his leg out as he caused Cardin to trip over him, crashing into the ground.

Dove and Sky finally started acting, as they came to their leader's defense as they tried to strike Jaune from behind. But Arc just ducked under them as they overshot. He rose back up, grabbed them by the back of their necks, and clonked their heads together several times.

After he let them go, the two fell to the ground, unconscious. He then heard another pair of feet run towards him, as well a scream of anger, before sidestepping and delivering a reverse haymaker into Russell's face. The sound of a nose breaking, as well as the clicking of falling teeth, told Jaune all he needed to know.

"Next time, put your Aura up, nimrod," he said, before he had to dodge another punch from Cardin.

"You think you're funny, huh Arc?" the Bully growled.

"Not as funny as you, dumbass." Jaune smirked slightly, ducking under another punch. "At least I'm not a pathetic bully who flexes his own ego by picking on other students."

Cardin shouted as he aimed for a side-kick, but Jaune grappled him by the leg, and prepared a fist. "Also, your hand-to-hand sucks." He added, before clocking Cardin in the face two times before letting go of his leg as he kneed him in the shin. Cardin tried to grab him, but Jaune weaved underneath him, and then grabbed him by the back of his waste.

"Suplex! SUPLEX!" Yang cheered him on, as Nora whooped in agreement.

"Suplex it is," Jaune chuckled as he then lifted Cardin up, and delivered a german suplex as he flipped him back over as he hit the ground _hard_. He felt Cardin go limp before moving him off, and saw by the look on his face, that he was now out of it.

"Well...that's that," he said, and looked back toward his friends, Nora and Yang given him big smiles and two thumbs up each, Ren, giving a small smile, Blake looking quite surprised, while Pyrrha and Ruby looked at him in awe.

"Whoa, Jaune...that...that was...," Ruby tried to speak, and was finished by Pyrrha.

"Extraordinary...,"

"That too," Ruby added in, causing Jaune to chuckle.

"Eh, it was easy - they didn't have any coordination going for them," Jaune shrugged, "If they had actually _worked_ together, I'd of been in trouble."

"Who taught you how to fight like that?" Yang questioned eagerly.

"One of the instructors at Trigger," He said, "One of the few _good_ ones - he was the one who taught me Atlesian CQC, and helped me build my weapons and gear."

" _That's_ Atlesian CQC?!" Ruby exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Yup - most Atlesian soldiers know the basics, but only a handful can truly master it." He elaborated, "It's actually pretty useful, especially if you were like me and were having trouble getting your aura unlocked."

"Dang, and you made it into an real art form!" Yang said, as she gave a good hard pat on the back.

"OOF! Whoa, easy Yang!" Jaune manage to wheeze out, before the sound the sound of the door opening and the familiar sound of heels got their attention. They turned and saw none other than Goodwitch coming in, as Cardin and his Team begin to regain consciousness. The Deputy Headmistress then looked toward them, with her eyes focused mostly on Jaune.

 _'Oh, fuckberries,'_


End file.
